
1 



Class 

Book. . M * 
Copyrightl^ 0 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSHi 



Si Unguis hominum loquar et angelorum, 
charitatem autem non habeam, factus sum 
velut aes sonans et cymbalum tinniens. 



^kll rights xg&tx'mth 



ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT OF HOLY SCRIPTURE 
AND OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR 

BY 

Canon and Professor of Theology in Luzerne 

FROM THE SEVENTH GERMAN EDITION 
BY THE 

^ttig %.fs$tztnb l^tx&inanb psstjf^mri, p^CpL 
of Covington, Kentucky 




Printers to The Holy Apostolic See and the Sacred 
Congregation of Rites 

RATI SB ON, ROME, NEW YORK, CINCINNATI 

1912 



M 4" 



REMIGIUS LAFORT, S.T.L., 

Censor 



*JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY, 

Archbishop of New York. 



New York, Aug. i, igi2 



Copyhight, 191 2 
FR. PUSTET & CO. 
New York and Cincinnati 



£CI.A320355 



u 

ffa* 
in 

H 



010 



fart I 



^tt fagg B2B 



HE German language abounds in rich homiletic and catechetic 
literature for students and pastors of souls. But for the 
English-speaking clergy there is a dearth, much felt. Dr. 
i Meyenberg 1 s work fills this great want better, probably, than 
anything else hitherto presented. He has succeeded in pointing out direct 
practical ways upon a strictly scientific basis. His work appeals, there- 
fore, most strongly to the seminarian, the incipient preacher, and to the 
pastor of souls. As a text-book it would supply a long-desired help in the 
line of practical pastoral science combined with a solid scientific theory 
that lead directly to rich practical work for the years of studies and many 
years beyond. For the pastor of souls it is of an incalculable value by its 
direct, practical, and stimulating power and many suggestions combined 
with theoretical and extensively instructive expositions. 11 The narrow, 
organic combination of religion and life, of science and practise, of theology 
and ascetics has ever constituted the signature of the Catholic Church" — 
says Dr. Meyenberg. 

Dr. Meyenberg is an experienced professor of many years' standing in 
collegiate and seminarian institutions; besides, he has had, in the mean- 
time, many occasions to fill pulpits in various parts of Europe, and has 
proven himself one of the foremost pidpit orators of today. He has become 
thoroughly convinced that homiletics should not remain a purely formal 
science, if it is to form and educate real preachers. He found that the 
greatest difficulty for young preachers lies in the popularization of the rich 
contents of our holy religion : that the homilist should — as Christ Himself 
says — produce nova et Vetera, like a good master of a house, from the rich 
treasury of his theological knowledge, life and feeling, in order that his 
hearers may possess life and have it more abundantly. 

u But" he continues to tell us, u the popularization of the entire 
theology will then be most fruitful when the preacher himself draws not 
merely from diverted brooks and rivulets, but, above all, from the first 
and the direct source of sacred eloquence to which he is led by the Church 
herself." He maintains, and it seems justly so, that our present pulpit 
literature has neglected too much the drawing from first sources and that 
in the training of preachers too little stress is laid upon the use of these 

9 




PREFACE 



first sources: Holy Scripture, liturgy, and theology. He claims that it is 
the duty of the teacher of homiletics not merely to laud these sources of 
eloquence before the future preachers of the word of God, but that he must 
attempt, in a scientific and practical manner, supported by a theological 
preparation of his pupils, to press into their hands the key to the many 
concealed and sealed homiletic sources. He should point out to them, 
from all sides, the inexhaustible homiletic treasures hidden in Holy 
Scripture, in liturgy, and in theology. Like the true artist in the super- 
natural field, the teacher should stimulate his pupils by personal sugges- 
tions, inducements, sketches, and elaborations to independent work. And 
all this should be done in following the footsteps and the spirit of our 
holy Catholic Church. To teach the incipient preacher and the pastor of 
souls that Holy Scripture, the missal, and the breviary contain an ines- 
timable and an inexhaustible fund of treasures, and to show them the way 
to bring theology home to the cultured and to the common people, to make 
them the happy possessors of the really precious and supernatural for a 
perennial power of life — this is the great and noble task of the homilist. 

The preacher will find, especially in the treatise on Holy Scripture and of 
the ecclesiastical year, much of direct, practical value, and in the theoretic 
chapters much that will lead to practical stimulation, and is of the utmost 
advantage to the preacher and the pastor of souls. 

These Homiletic and Catechetic Studies are most excellently adapted 
and arranged, in text-book form, for a thorough homiletic course and for 
theological seminaries where, unfortunately, so little is done in this line. 
The author's treatise on Holy Scripture is of an incalculable value. It pre- 
sents a general view of Holy Scripture in a most marked and inspiring 
manner, from most instructive homiletic and practical viewpoints. It will 
impress upon the mind of the reader that Holy Scripture is, indeed, the first 
book for sermons, in the full sense of the word; that through i( Holy Scripture 
zeal is extended that is according to knowledge," which reacts upon the 
Church and helps, indeed, to renew the face of the earth; that every preacher 
should really be 11 by the power of the divine word a coadjutor of the Provi- 
dence of God" — as Pope Leo XIII says, or u a force, mighty as the cataract 
or the avalanche" in the divine plan. He will find Holy Scripture 11 a 
source of living waters, most fruitful for sacred preaching." 

In the liturgical part of these studies the author unfolds the whole life 
of Jesus and His entire holy religion. Therefore, it is admirably calculated 
to be to the preacher the best guide for a presentation of our entire holy 
Catholic religion. The historical and the archeological, as well as the homi- 
letic and exegetic combination of the exposition of the liturgy, supplemented 



PREFACE 



11 



by a number of dogmatic, moral, and pastoral excursions, are of the utmost 
interest and value. The Catechetic Studies are short, direct, and to the point. 
Much of their foundation and many analogous themes are referred to and 
extensively treated in the Homiletic Studies, and, therefore, are not repeated. 

At the suggestion of a dear clerical friend, thoroughly imbued with the 
value and the interesting and stimulating treatment of the subject by Dr. 
Meyenberg, I undertook the doubly difficult task of translating this grand work 
into English. I know no work that surpasses this in usefulness and value 
to seminarians and to the preacher of the word of God. It has cost many 
moments of otherwise well-filled hours to put these magnificent thoughts, 
instructions, and directions of Dr. Meyenberg into a readable English dress. 
How far I have succeeded, others may judge. The fact that extremely 
short intervals only could, as a rule, be employed in the work left little time 
for a better selection of words and phrases, and must account for many short- 
comings. However, I did cheerfully what I could to enable our hardworked 
and noble English-speaking clergy to avail themselves of a work that has 
justly received such a ready and general welcome among the valuable books 
of the German and Swiss theologians and students, so that within a very 
short period six editions of this grand work have been exhausted. May 
God grant that it or some similar book be adopted in our seminaries as a text- 
book, and that these Homiletic and Catechetic Studies be given, in the English 
dress, that rank and position in our theological studies that they deserve 
and the needs of the age demand — and that every priest, who really loves the 
word of God and its proper treatment, may place it upon his desk as a book 
of inestimable value for constant use, calculated to inspire him with a warm 
and exalted love for the study of God's holy word and with an eager desire 
to spread it with unction and a commensurate fruit among his people: ut 
vitam habeant et abundantius habeant. 

THE TRANSLATOR 

Covington, Ky., 
Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, 
Feb. ii, 191 2 




THE TEACHING OFFICE OF CHRIST AND OF 
THE CHURCH 

i. Christ and the Office of Teaching. — Every practical theological 
science is rooted in dogmatic theology, according to the general law, 
which also controls every scientific consideration: "Justus ex fide 
vivit." 1 Thus also the proper conception of Homiletics and Cate- 
chetics arises from the consideration of the teaching office of Christ 
and of the Church. Here it suffices to recall briefly the essence and 
characteristics and the aim of the teaching office. 

Christ is, above all else, Redeemer and, therefore, High-Priest. As 
God-man He canceled the guilt of the sins of humanity by His atone- 
ment; by His sacrifice He tore asunder the handwriting that stood 
against us; He removed it and nailed it to the cross. 2 He conquered 
Satan, death, and hell, and He gave us — as the first supreme good of 
life — supernatural life, "Ego sum vita" — " Veni ut vitam habeant"* 

Life, however, is no dead capital. It should become efficacious in 
and with us — to act, to combat, and to progress toward our destiny. 
But we must know the way that leads to this destiny. 

Therefore Christ has become our Teacher. He is the Truth, has 
the truth, gives and teaches the truth, which leads us to our destiny, 
and Whom, someday, we shall see face to face: " Ego sum Veritas"; 
" Ego in hoc natus sum et ad hoc veni in mundum ut testimonium per- 
hibeam veritati." 4 But Christ has not brought grace and truth into 
the world to leave them to themselves, but to put them at the disposal 
of all men of all times for the salvation of souls. 

Therefore Christ is King. — As God He is the King of all things. 
But as the Son of God and Man He established a supernatural kingdom, 
both within and without, and to this His sovereignty He subjected all 

1 Rom. i : 17; Habac. 2 : 4; Gal. 2 : 11; Heb. 10 : 38. 2 Coloss. 2 : 14. 

3 John 14:6; John 10:10. 4 John 14: 6; John 18:37. 

13 



14 



INTRODUCTION 



minds and all hearts. As King and Shepherd He leads all things 
toward their end in majesty and in mildness, in grace and in truth : 
"Ego sum via — ego sum pastor bonus — quia rex sum ego — rex 
regum et dominus dominantium — data est mihi omnis potestas in 
coelo et in terra." 1 The teaching office of Christ is, however, according 
to its inner dignity, not the first of His offices. And yet, in a certain 
sense, it is the first. For truth alone leads to the end; only along the 
path of truth does grace live and operate. All supernatural life tends 
toward an end, and needs truth as a guide. The teaching office of 
Christ, therefore, occupied a very prominent place in the life of Christ. 
With it the Saviour began His public activity in the work of the redemp- 
tion. As soon as He had left the desert He began to teach: He taught 
in the synagogues, and preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. 
Activity in teaching marks His whole career: He teaches the people, He 
teaches the future teachers of the people; He organizes a permanent 
teaching office: 11 oportet me evangelizare regnum Dei, quia ideo missus 
sum." 2 

In the course of these studies we shall often find occasion to con- 
sider the picture of the Teacher — Christ Jesus — more closely. Here 
it will suffice to assert the fact that the teaching office of Christ appears 
in the Gospels in a most prominent manner, and that it is proclaimed 
by Christ Himself most emphatically and with a Messianic dignity 
precisely in the most critical moments of His life. 

2. The Church and the Teaching Office. — With other offices Christ 
also delivered His teaching office to the Church. And precisely in this 
delivery, the teaching office was placed in a most conspicuous manner 
in the foreground, not as if it were in the Church the first in dignity 
but because it precedes in a certain sense all other offices and directs 
all else toward an end. 

The first of the great and principal aims of Christ is the exer- 
cise of His teaching office and the permanent creation of a supernatural 
office of teaching, of a school of truth and of faith for the world. 
But this is exactly the teaching office of the Church. The Church was 
to be the immediate teacher of faith, the proximate rule of faith, the 
medium of transmission and authority of Revelation in the world. 

1 John 14:6; John 10:11; John 18:37; Apoc. iq:i6; Matth. 28:18. 

2 Luke 4 : 43. 



INTRODUCTION 



15 



For the homiletic consideration it is wonderfully surprising how 
the final accounts of the four Gospels and the beginning of the Acts of 
the Apostles point out the decisive creation and the assertion of the life 
of such a teaching office and of the school of faith combined therewith. 
Scheeben remarks very strikingly: "The documentary evidence of the 
establishment of the teaching Apostolate is found in the Scriptures just 
where it is most expected, and it is expected in the final account of all 
the Evangelists and at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles — and, 
indeed, with a precision and completeness which leaves nothing to be 
desired, but which is, however, complemented and strengthened by acts 
and words of the Saviour reported earlier in the Gospels, since the final 
accounts mutually complement and confirm each other" 1 

The fundamental account is given by Matthew: he puts, in a most 
prominent place, the foundation of the mission, the sovereign authority 
of Christ, and shows the continuation of the mission of Christ in the 
Church and the inner guarantee of this mission as the continuation 
of the presence of Christ; thus the school of faith is entitled to a claim 
of submission and obedience of the world. 2 Mark 3 points out very 
fully and clearly, through commission and miracles and signs, the 
exterior supernatural legitimation and sanction of the teachers sent as 
the heralds of God, who, precisely on this account, proclaim the doctrine 
as an authoritative message of the Creator to the entire humanity as to 
His creatures. Luke 4 describes the continued activity in teaching as a 
magnificent testimony in favor of Christ, full of interior and exterior 
guarantee and authenticity, warranted by the Holy Ghost, who really, 
in the place of Christ, gives testimony through the teaching office. 
Whilst the three synoptic gospels place the universal character of the 
school of faith in the first rank, the last of the Evangelists — John 5 — 
emphasizes strongly the unity, the perpetuity, and the exclusiveness of 
this school of faith — the firm center, viz., the primacy — the sover- 
eignly directing power, to which all lambs and sheep of Christ must 
render the same obedience as that which is due to Christ Himself. Thus 

1 Scheeben, Dogmatik, 1557 n. 93 sqq. Compare the unique and beautiful demon- 
stration of the thesis bearing on this subject. 

2 Matth. 28: 18 sqq. Teacher of the truth of Christ. 

3 Mark 16 : 15 sqq. Preacher of the Law of Christ. 

4 Luke 24 : 47 sqq. See Acts 1 : 8. Witness of the life of Christ. 

6 J ohn 21 : 15 sqq. Organized teacher, preacher, witness, and priest. 



i6 



INTRODUCTION 



the ecclesiastical teaching office and its school of faith is the outgrowth 
and the continuation of the mission of Christ. 1 The authority of the 
Apostolic teaching office is presented to the Apostles deeply and peda- 
gogically, in the very words and the concept in which they had learned, 
in their own school, the authority of the Saviour Himself: Praedicator 
evangelii, doctor, magister, quasi potestatem habens, testis, pastor 
ovium I 

3. The Teaching Office of the Church in Relation to the Other 
Offices. — 77 is customary to enumerate the offices of the Church, the 
same as the offices of Christ, in the well-known three-fold division: the 
office of Teacher, of Priest, and of King. The entire office of Christ is 
designated biblically as the office of Shepherd. This entire office 
Christ transferred de facto upon Peter also under this name: pasce 
agnos meos: pasce oves meas — be shepherd in my stead. Therefore, 
practical theology, which treats of the administration of the offices of 
the Church, is most appropriately called — pastoral theology. It 
treats of the administration of the teaching, the priestly and the royal 
office. 

Nevertheless, for a scientifically deeper conception, especially of 
the teaching office, the twofold division of the ecclesiastical power, into 
a potestas ordinis et jurisdictionis, is likewise to be considered. 

The potestas ordinis is conferred by a sacramental act, the potestas 
jurisdictionis by a legitimate canonical transmission or mission. The 
potestas ordinis imparts an indelible and permanent faculty ; the con- 
ferred potestas jurisdictionis can be imparted to the possessor either 
limited or divided, or can be again withdrawn: it is, as it were, simply 
borrowed from a higher power. 

Both powers can be possessed, under certain conditions and in cer- 
tain degrees, independently of each other — but in reality they are not 
independent nor separated, but rather most intimately and organi- 
cally connected. All this is very important in order to form a proper 
conception of the teaching office. 

The teaching office is considered a part of the potestas jurisdictionis: 
in this it has its deepest roots. Inasmuch as the teaching office pro- 

1 Note the expressions purposely chosen by the various evangelists to designate the 
teaching office: "docere" — " praedicare" (xqpv^art) — 11 testes esse" " pasce agnos et 
oves" 



INTRODUCTION 



17 



poses, administers, superintends, and, in a manner, defines and judges 
doctrine authoritatively as a precept of teaching and a law of truth, 
it is fully and entirely a potestas jurisdictions, as a representative of 
the jurisdiction of Christ. But, however, as the teaching office trans- 
mits doctrine as a supernatural light, as a supernatural good, as the 
root of supernatural life, it is, in a certain sense, a potestas ordinis, a 
channel through which grace and truth flow from the fountain, which is 
Christ. 1 

4. The Bearers of the Ecclesiastical Teaching Office. — Here also 
we shall only remind the reader of the fundamental principles of dogma 
and canon law, in order to continue the secure construction of practical 
science upon this very foundation. The Roman Pontiff is the suc- 
cessor of St. Peter in the primacy, and, therefore, is also the supreme 
and first teacher of truth in the Church. The bishops are the successors 
of the Apostles: they, and not the people or the state, are selected and 
appointed bearers of the government of the Church and, therefore, also 
bearers of the teaching authority of the Church. For this very reason 
the Pope and the bishops are exclusively appointed by Christ the bearers 
of the teaching office, though not in the same manner. To them alone 
can the teaching authority be exclusively traced, according to the dis- 
position of Christ. Here there is question of that supreme teaching 
authority which preserves the treasures of faith, determines its meaning, 
judges and develops it with the gift of infallibility. But the bearers of 
the teaching authority have co-laborers for their more extensive opera- 
tion, partakers of their teaching office to whom they communicate their 
power through a mission {pastors, priests, deacons, in short, every 
public teacher of religion, though he be but a layman). The supreme 
bearers of the teaching office operate likewise through richly and wisely 
organized auxiliary bodies of their teaching office, such as the Roman 
Congregations which, though they have not the gift of infallibility, still 
through their close participation in the teaching power of the Church 
and of her direction by the Holy Ghost, possess very high authority; 
after the infallible decisions Ihey offer the greatest guaranty of truth, 
and therefore also can and must demand obedience and submission, 
even though a definite decision to the contrary by the highest authority 
is possible. Nor are respectful discussions with these tribunals ex- 

1 Scheeben, I. n. 114. 



i8 



INTRODUCTION 



eluded by any spirit of obedience. 1 For the fulfilment of this teaching 
power and office, concerning its object and sources, we obtain the 
following scheme in detail: 

(a) The Church exercises her teaching power through ecumenical 
councils, which represent her entire living body, in head and members, 
and set it in motion. The councils are infallible in their solemn 
decisions of matters of faith and morals. 

(b) But the Pope alone also exercises the teaching power whenever 
he solemnly decides, ex cathedra, questions of faith and morals as the 
supreme head and teacher of the universal Church. For this he pos- 
sesses the gift of infallibility. Moreover, beyond the rather limited range 
of ex cathedra definitions, he is the custodian and teacher of religious 
truths. In his solemn definitions the Pope is free to act without 
previously obtaining the consent of the Church. 

(c) The Church exercises the teaching power and office whenever 
the bishops, scattered throughout the world, decide in union with 
the Pope any real point of doctrine. These definitions are also marked 
with the gift of infallibility. Thus, many heresies, especially of the 
three first centuries, were condemned, and professions of faith were 
adopted and confirmed. 

(d) The Church exercises the power and office of teaching also 
through the ordinary, daily announcement of the Word of God over the 
face of the earth {magisterium ordinarium). To this unanimous 
teaching body in solidarity, the infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost 
is also promised: Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum 
est, hoc et vere proprieque Catholicum est. (Vine. Lerin. commonit. 
c 3-) 

(e) The object of this teaching is the entire revelation, the word of 
God: all and everything that belongs, in the fullest sense, to the concept 
of the doctrines of faith or of morals. 

(/) The living fountains of this teaching office, from which it draws 
the unadulterated living water of religious truth, are Holy Scripture 
and Tradition. 

(g) The proximate rule of truth and of genuine doctrine, is, as we 
have already said, the Church herself, that is, the living teaching author- 
ity of the Catholic Church. She draws from the fountains, through the 

1 See Lehmkuhl, Theol. Moral. I. n. 304. 



INTRODUCTION 



19 



assistance of the Holy Ghost, with supernatural, infallible certainty and 
fidelity, and presents the doctrines of Christ, the entire revelation, and 
this alone, to the world and to the faithful. She is the proximate, direct, 
infallible, and living regula fidei. She places before us the entire 
Scripture as the word of God and all tradition as emanating from God; 
she directs, judges, decides, develops, as we have seen above. 

(h) The ordinary announcement of the Church, the fulfilment of the 
teaching office, is accomplished ordinarily through preaching: Quomodo 
credent ei, quern non audierunt? Quomodo autem audient sine 
praedicante? quomodo vero praedicabunt nisi mittantur? sicut scrip- 
turn est: quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium 
bona (Isai. 52: 7; Nahum 1, 15) . . . Ergo fides ex auditu, auditus 
autem per verbum Christi. Sed dico: nunquid non audierunt? Et 
quidem in omnem orbem ten arum exivit sonus eorum et in fines orbis 
terrae verba eorum. 1 The first and ordinary preachers, in the full sense 
of the word, are the bishops who, however, have their instruments, 
organs, helpers, and co-laborers. 

5. The Catholic Preacher. — Thus we finally attain the proper con- 
ception of the particular, real Catholic preacher of the second order, of the 
ordinary preacher: the pastor and the priest; and of the extraordinary, 
the deacon. The priests {and deacons) are created and empowered in 
ordination by the bishops as vessels of grace and truth, and are by an 
authoritative mission called and set apart for making the official 
announcement of the doctrines of Christ. They are : 

(a) Not equally empowered with the bishops, but subordinate wit- 
nesses of the truth, and, therefore, essentially sent by him and dependent 
on him; 

(b) And much less are they judges of faith: they partake of the 
teaching office, but not of the full teaching power. 

(c) But still they are real, living, ecclesiastical, official, and execu- 
tive organs of the ecclesiastical teaching body, messengers and heralds of 
the richest and most extensively circulated and developed sphere of the 
episcopal and entire ecclesiastical teaching activity: quomodo praedi- 
cabunt, nisi mittantur? et quidem in orbem ten arum exivit sonus 
eorum. 

(d) They are therefore also real teachers of supernatural truths: 

1 Roman 10:14-19. 



20 



INTRODUCTION 



1. They partake, through ordination of the teaching dignity of the 
bishop. 

2. They possess interiorly and exteriorly something of the teaching 
authority of the bishop in virtue of their mission. 

j. In this manner they truly and actually receive the Holy Ghost. 

4. Therefore the pastors, shepherds of souls, and preachers in 
general, notwithstanding all their essential dependence, possess a cer- 
tain inner, relatively independent power and dignity, which, through 
the personal qualities of the individual, are more or less elevated. Thus 
the teaching of the bishops manifests itself to the people everywhere 
through the preachers as present, alive, multiplied, and strengthened: 
in omnem terram exivit sonus eorum. But never is the sermon sepa- 
rated from its source: the bishop, the Pope, and Christ. Still the 
preachers draw, with a certain independence, under the influence of the 
Holy Ghost, in obedience to the Church and with an earnest effort of 
personal talents and gifts, from the fountains of Holy Writ and Tra- 
dition: Omnis scriba doctus in regno coelorum similis est homini 
patrifamilias, qui profert de thesauro suo nova et Vetera. 1 

In this form is presented to us, at the conclusion of our compre- 
hensive study of the magisterium, the finished picture of the Catholic 
preacher and catechist. He is, in a beautiful and the fullest sense, 
the ambassador of Christ. He is vested with the divine authority of 
Christ and of the Church. He may say: Verba mea, quae ego loquor 
vobis a me ipso non loquor: Mea doctrina non est mea, sed ejus qui 
misit me. 2 He points, through bishop and Pope, to St. Peter who 

1 Matth. 13:52. In the early days of the Church the sermon was ordinarily delivered 
by the bishops who are really the pastor es et doctor es. Only in the fifth century was the 
fulfilment of the preaching office gradually transferred to a greater extent, ordinarily and 
more fully, upon the priests. And thus arose gradually the preaching office of the priests, 
in subordination, however, to the bishops, not only as a momentary but as a permanent 
and regular assistance and activity. As far the general instruction of the faithful, so like- 
wise for the more extensive and deeper scientific and ascetic instruction especially for the 
cidtivation of the clergy, can the Pope and the bishops send special teachers and establish 
institutions, schools, seminaries, and universities. These, thus equipped as auxiliary 
organs, in virtue of their significance and with all their independence, must be more 
closely bound to the living teaching body. The bishops can, under certain conditions, 
also consult this sacerdotal teaching organ, as in diocesan synods, but never are they, in 
the sense of the synod of Pistoya, an organ of equal power or control. Compare Scheeben, 
Dogmatik, I. n. 159, 160, 161, p. 86 sqq. (German ed.). The same principles obtain 
for the religious teaching orders. 

2 John 14:10. 



INTRODUCTION 



21 



prostrates himself before Christ and exclaims: Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God; Thou hast the words of eternal life. And 
from the lips of Christ the preacher hears anew similar words: My 
doctrine is not mine, but of Him that sent me. 1 

Christ points to the Father who sent Him. The waters of truth 
flow in steady currents from its original source and fountain of the 
Blessed Trinity through Christ, the Church, the Pope, and the bishops 
to every Catholic pidpit, to every Catholic preacher. Therefore the 
Catholic preacher may say with St. Paul: Pro Christi legatione 
fungimur tanquam Deo exhortante per nos, 2 and rejoice with the same 
Apostle who wrote to his congregations: Sicut angelum Dei excepistis 
me, sicut Christum Jesum. 3 Accepistis illud {the sermon) non ut 
verbum hominum sed (sicut est vere) verbum Dei. 4 

The exalted authority of the Catholic preacher does not indeed 
clothe him with official infallibility, but in consequence of the intimate 
union of the preacher with the teaching Church, in consequence of the 
superintendency and direction of the preaching office by this same 
infallible teaching Church, in consequence of a certain participation 
of the preaching office — in the magisterium ordinarium of the Church 
— the hearing Church possesses a real guaranty that through the 
preachers, united with the bishop and the Pope, drawing through 
earnest efforts from the source of Christ, it receives the truth, the real 
unadulterated truth of the infallible Church. But this living 
authority of teaching, with its rich organs of life, is at all times capable 
and prepared to correct at once all possible deviations from the truth. 
But all this limitation the preacher does not find to be a burden, but 
rather a binding to that truth which makes us free. 

And thus the preacher becomes again the free and the independent 
co-laborer of Christ and of the Church, the friend of Christ and of the 
Church : Jam non dico vos servos : quia servus nescit quid facial 
dominus ejus. Vos autem dixi amicos: quia omnia quaecumque 
audivi a Patre meo, notafeci vobis. 5 

It is, therefore, also his task to learn to know Christ more deeply 
and thoroughly. As one who knows, as a friend and as an image of 
Christ, he should preach. And therefore he should become also more 

1 John 7 : 16. 1 II. Cor. 5 : 20. 3 Gal. 4 : 14. 

4 /. Thess. 2 : 13. 6 John 15: 14-15. 



22 



INTRODUCTION 



and more a knower of men through the ascetic study of his own heart 
and of the souls of the people. 

Thus the preacher and the catechist will fulfil toward people and 
children the task assumed by the Apostle : Filioli, quos iterum parturio, 
donee formetur Christus in vobis. 1 

The preacher exercises the office of teaching either toward the whole 
people, regarding their different degrees, stations in life, or conditions — 
as in the office of preaching — or toward the catechumens of the people, 
according to our condition — mainly toward the youth — as in the 
office of catechist. Therefore, the priest should necessarily apply 
himself to the study of Homiletics and Catechetics before he assumes 
the teaching office, as well as during its progress. 

This necessity, arising from the teaching office, created a double 
science and an artistic direction : Homiletics and Catechetics. 

6. The Teaching Office of Christ and of the Church in the Modern 
Age. — //, finally, we consider the teaching office of the Church as 
reflected on the background of our modern age, then it will appear to us 
indeed as the Orient from on high. 2 Our age harbors within its fold 
two classes of people. The one is composed of an army of infidels; a 
people which attacks every species of authority up to the very highest 
— that of God Himself, rejects every foundation of philosophical 
and religious thought, wrestles and races, with unquenchable thirst 
and not without success, with truths and knowledge of secondary 
importance, and yet stands, half sorrowing and half mocking, before the 
greatest questions, before the very portals of truth, and asks with Pilate : 
Quid est Veritas? a people that has undermined the foundation of 
morality to a large extent, and is sinking and ever sinking, but that 
also, now and then, is found yearning after better and higher things and 
again tries every road in that direction without compassing anything 
beyond bungling, much less the ascent to the heights of the supernatural : 
grandes passus extra viaml In many instances, however, large circles 
are content to wrap themselves in their own Pharisaical conceit; they 
know no Saviour, nor do they desire one. 

The other class is composed of the faithful, of the " poor in spirit," 
who accept truth and grace from on high, who follow Christ, and bring 
forth abundant fruit in patience. But how many who waver stand 

1 Gal. 4: iq. 2 Benedictus, Luke 1 : 78. 



INTRODUCTION 



23 



between these two armies? Quid statis otiosi? ite et vos in vineam 
meaml 

Against this modern state of affairs, we know no better direction, 
for the modern preacher, in order to be brief, than that matchless 
method of preaching which St. Paul, illumined by the Spirit of God, 
gave to his disciple Timothy to carry with him as an homiletic testa- 
ment. He describes therein also our own age: " Testificor coram Deo 
et Jesu Christo, qui judicaturus est vivos et mortuos per adventum 
ipsius et regnum ejus : praedica verbum, insta opportune et importune : 
argue, obsecra, increpa in omni patientia et doctrina. Erit enim 
tempus dum sanam doctrinam non sustinebunt, sed ad sua desideria 
coaccervabunt sibi magistros, prurientes auribus et a veritatem quidem 
auditum avertent, ad fabulas autem convertentur. Tu vero vigila, in 
omnibus labora, opus fac evangelistae, ministerium tuum imple. 
Sobrius esto!" 1 Compare p. 104, 126 sqq. and especially 637, yo6 sqq. 

If the preacher possesses a perfect idea of the teaching office of 
the Church, of the richness of its treasures and sources; if the love of 
God urges him on to perform the work of an evangelist indeed — then he 
will scarcely be able, in the spirit of the above quoted words of St. Paul, 
to think of anything more exalted than being a preacher in these our 
modern days. 

But, if there be question of obtaining a modern commentary for the 
above words and for the Apostolic conception of the preaching office, 
then we would direct the student and reader to the Vatican Council. 
We know of no document from which the majestic mildness and fruit- 
ful conviction of the Catholic teaching office shines more brilliantly 
into our modern age than precisely through the Vatican Council. 

Now, after having thoroughly examined the dogmatic basis of our 
studies, we will proceed to enter upon particulars. 

1 77. Tim. 4: 3 sqq. 



M j *Ut at (^ouhnim flop SIS 



PART /. HOMILETIC STUDIES 

HE scientific-practical, or, if you wish, the artistic regu- 
lation of the administration of the teaching office by the 
preachers, is called — Homiletics. The word e o/u\ia is 
derived from 'ofjuXeiv — to converse with someone, to 
engage in conversation, to hold converse. In this sense 'ofuXia and 
'ofjuXetv are also occasionally used in Holy Scripture, f. i., I Cor. 1 5 133 ; 
Luke 24: 14. In the Acts of the Apostles 20: 11, 'ofxikeiv is used for 
the first time in an address to the assembled Christian congregation 
at Troas, which address was delivered during the service of the 
" Breaking of Bread." 1 Here the Greek word receives, as it were, its 
ecclesiastical sanction in the sense of a sermon — a liturgical address. 
The most ancient ecclesiastical writers made use of it in this sense. 
Homily means, principally, a sacred address, every kind and form 
of sacred eloquence. But, especially since the days of Origen, 
'ofuXia (homilia, tractatus) is used to designate, more or less 
exclusively, the popular exegetic sermon, which was most 
prominent in the earliest days of the Church — a lecture in the 
most limited exegetic connection with Holy Scripture. In contrast 
to e o/xtXta they distinguished in olden times Xoyos (sermo, oratio), 
a sacred address of a rhetorical character — the ancient classical 
oratio. From that time on the word homily retained its more 
limited signification of a more special and particular kind of 
sacred eloquence. The more ancient and general meaning of the 
word homiletics was therefore retained. Homiletics, therefore, 

1 Compare Wetzer and Welte Kirchenlexicon (2nd. ed. of Hergenroether and 
Kaulen). The excellent article by Bishop Keppler on "Homiletik." 

25 




26 



INTRODUCTION 



is the "theory of sacred eloquence," 1 the "theory of the liturgical 
and congregational sermon," 2 the systematic and scientific 
exposition of the spirit, the norm and the rules which ought to 
govern and direct the ministration of the office of preaching: "The 
direction for preaching the Gospel to the poor. 3 Homiletics is the 
scientific, practical introduction of the art of caring for souls 
through the word of God. 4 

The ways, construction, and the division of this science may 
be different, and yet they lead to the same result. In a practical 
science this freedom of construction is still greater. Yet even 
here a certain tradition has developed itself, and not unjustly: it 
must, however, be guarded against terminating in a sort of a 
stereotyped mold. A certain arrangement in the ways and division 
is contained in the interest of the entire science and practise. 
Father Jungmann, S. J., in his "theory of sacred eloquence," 
through his original, but far from novelty-seeking method, intro- 
duced lately a new way which might, in general and for a long 
time to come, be safely followed in our (German) text-books. 

In the more theoretic parts of these studies, and, to some 
extent, in the more predominant practical parts thereof, we shall 
follow similar ways, in a measure. Herein we shall be guided by 
the following thoughts: The supernatural builds upon nature, 
rhetoric upon psychology, practise mainly upon genuine theory, 
which, however, must not deem it beneath its dignity to serve in 
the more productive field of practise and even to abstract from 
practise, especially from the ways of practise which even the 
Saviour Himself has followed : veni ut vitam habeant et abundantius 
habeant! (John, 10: 10.) All preaching, all theorizing, and all 
practical exercise of the preacher is merely following the footsteps 
of Him of whom the Acts of the Apostles say: pertransivit 
benefaciendo. 

Homiletics is a theological science, separated from rhetoric — 
though partly built upon it, over and above it, and independently 
of it, a scientific art-school of the free and sovereign daughter of 
God — the Church. 

Homiletics developed very early as an independent science of 

1 Jungmann, Theorie der geistlichen Beredsamkeit, I. B., c. i. 

2 Keppler, i. c, Kirchenlexicon, Homiletik, I. Name und Begriff, s. 198, VI. B. 

3 Alban Stolz, Homiletik als Anweisung den Armen das Evangelium zu verkiin- 
den, Herder, 1885. 

4 Compare the following explanations of the definition of sacred eloquence, p. 33 sqq. 



INTRODUCTION 



27 



pastoral theology. (See Augustin: De doctrina Christiana, De 
catechizandis rudibus.) But it, nevertheless, remained a part of 
pastoral theology, the introduction into the ministration of the 
teaching office of the preacher. Wherever there are pastoral 
grounds of moral theology and of canon law (f. i. in the doctrine 
of the sacraments), there you also find homiletics and catechetics 
at the same time with liturgies and poimenics as a finishing and 
crowning science, in the practical view of the theological structure, 
as an introduction, to popularize the entire theology, to transplant 
it, with God's grace, into the flesh and blood of the people. 

Homiletics and catechetics naturally remain united. In our 
studies we shall often draw attention to their mutual relation, 
and, therefore, we must and can speak of the catechetical part 
more briefly than of the homiletic. 

There remains still the giving of a summary of our method of 
the studies of the homiletic part. We shall consider our studies 
and exercises under the following points of view: 

I. The essence and foundation of sacred eloquence. (Book I.) 
II. The supreme laws of sacred eloquence. (Book II.) 

III. The sources of sacred eloquence. (Book III.) 

IV. The means of sacred eloquence. (Book IV.) 
V. The matter of sacred eloquence. (Book V.) 

VI. The different kinds of sacred eloquence. (Book VI.) 
VII. The exterior form and forms of sacred eloquence. (Book VII.) 



THE ESSENCE AND FOUNDATION OF SACRED 
ELOQUENCE 

§ i. Definition 

1. The way to a definition. To obtain a correct definition of 
sacred eloquence we must keep its natural and supernatural side 
in view. The natural means of the human word and speech are 
elevated into the supernatural order and made serviceable for a 
supernatural end. We should ask ourselves, therefore: What is 
eloquence in general and what is sacred eloquence? 

2. Definition of eloquence. Plato defines eloquence as rexyt) 
\\fvx^yoijia hia \oyaiv. 1 "The art of directing souls by speech." 
— If we actually consider eloquence and examine it psychologically 
and analyze its essence, its aims, and methods, we will find, in all 
its forms, an influence, conscious of its aim and acting wisely and 
warmly upon the human soul, at times more toward its intellec- 
tual side and at other times more upon the will, but mostly upon 
the whole man. The means for this are word and speech. Plato's 
definition is therefore capable of comprising all the various forms 
and kinds of eloquence, according to their great characteristics 
and essential qualifications. 

3. Definition of sacred eloquence. The definition of Plato can 
very easily be christianized: for the supernatural is built upon 
the natural, only using other and higher aims and means. If we 
consider the gospel and sermon of our Saviour from every point of 
view, we will recognize the aim of the sermon of our Lord to a 
supernatural life, as He Himself acknowledges: Ego veni ut vitam 
habeant et abundantius habeant (John 10: 10). Therefore, the aim 
of the sermon is the awakening, the promotion and the perfection 
of life, i.e., of the practical life of grace here, and of the beatific 

1 Phaidros, 261, d. (c. 43): ap ovv oi t6 fiev 6\ov rj p-qropiK-i) av ets rex™! ^vxaYuryia rts 
5ia \oyu)v. 

28 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 29 



life of glory hereafter — in eternity. Never was a sermon of 
Christ limited to mere intellectual instruction: it always aimed at 
the whole man, at his whole supernatural happiness. 

The sermon of the Church must have the self-same aim, for it 
is in truth a continuation of the teaching office of Christ. Such 
it really is. All saints and great preachers and the very teaching 
office of the Church proclaim supernatural life, the eternal super- 
natural destiny to be simply the sole aim of the sermon. St. 
Francis of Sales expresses the whole tradition beautifully in these 
words: What is really the aim and the purpose of the preacher? 
His aim and purpose must be to do that for which our Saviour came 
into this world. Now, He Himself declares this: ego veni ut vitam 
habeant et abundantius habeant. But the aim of the preacher must 
be that those who are dead through sin may live again to justice, 
and that the just themselves, who possess supernatural life, may 
possess it more abundantly and raise themselves to a still higher 
perfection. 1 But the striving of sacred eloquence after this aim 
is, in the most finished and perfect sense of the word: "the direc- 
tion of souls," the supernatural direction of souls — re^ye xpvxayojyia. 
This aim may be expressed by the one word: Christus. Scarcely 
ever was the work of the teaching office of the Church more prop- 
erly expressed than by the words of the Apostle already quoted: 
Filioli, quos iterum parturio, donee formetur Christus in vobis. 2 The 
sermon is a builder, an artist who teaches the redeemed effectively, 
the favored and those called by Christ, and chisels piece after 
piece from the marble of their souls and paints line upon line of 
the image of Christ upon their souls, until Christ receives form in 
their souls through faith and grace and imitation, until Christ 
perceives, upon the day of their death, His image in His own, 
and unites them with Himself — the end — in the vision and hap- 
piness of God: Transformamur in eandem imaginem (Christi) a 
elaritate in claritatem. 3 Therefore we may most properly chris- 
tianize Plato's definition of eloquence into a definition of sacred 
eloquence: re^ye i/n/)(ay<ayia ets ^piarov. "The art of directing 
souls to Christ. " — The means of this direction of souls is speech. 
As speech is the bearer and the instrument of natural eloquence, 
so it has pleased the wisdom of God to select and to employ speech 
also for supernatural revelation and as the most exalted means 

1 Letter to the archbishop of Bourges, 4 c. 

2 Gal. 4: 19. 3 II Cor. 3:18. 



30 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of directing souls. The "Word of God," in the highest, fullest 
sense as Xoyos, as divine wisdom, as the consubstantial Son of 
God, as the Redeemer who became man, effected and perfected 
this revelation and direction of souls. The human word has been 
consecrated as a means of this revelation. We have but to recall 
to our minds the grand vision of the vocation of a Moses, an Isaias, 
a Jeremias, and we will easily discover the consecration of human 
speech as a bearer and means of directing souls. Christ Himself 
spoke mainly through human speech, the speech of His human 
nature, which He confirmed and made efficacious as the Word 
of God. The conclusion of the Gospels shows, as we have already 
proven, the grand transmission of the teaching office upon the 
followers of Christ : Euntes ergo docete omnes gentes — praedicate 
evangelium — therefore we have here again a consecration of speech 
as one of the first means of the direction of souls. 

Thus the christianized definition of Plato fits aptly into the 
notion of sacred eloquence: re^ye \jjv)(ay(oyia Sta Xoycov eis ^punov: 
The art of directing souls to Christ by means of the word of God. — It 
lies in the very nature of the thing itself that eloquence is deserving 
of the name of art, and it is furthermore fully confirmed by rhet- 
oricians — to whom we refer the reader. Sacred eloquence, more- 
over, merits to be called a direction of souls, according to the 
popular expression of Gregory the Great: ars artium regimen 
animarum — as the highest and the most exalted of all that merits 
the name of art. 1 

Thus we define sacred eloquence: Ttx vr ) tyvxaytoyia ets xP l(7rov: 
The art of the supernatural direction of souls to Christ by means 
of speech. 

We will add here some ideas, taken from the deep and thorough 
examinations of Father Jungmann, S.J., on the notion of eloquence 
(ars dicendi). 2 Eloquence, in the broadest sense of the word, may be a 
purely teaching, didactic eloquence in the more limited sense of the 
word, if it simply aims at an explanation or an enriching of knowledge 
with truths. (Compare the didactic prose in all its forms, disputation, 
dissertation, the purely academic speech). But speech may have also 
for its purpose the presentation of good in an effective manner, which 
makes it a moving force of life. This is eloquence proper, which the 
Romans called eloquentia or ars oratoria. Recent theoreticians called 

1 Gregory the Great, past. p. i. c. i. Greg. Naz. or, 2 (al. 1. n. 11). 

2 Theory of Sacred Eloquence, c. 2. 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 31 



it also " Oratorical eloquence." Eloquence appears also under a third 
form, in a broader sense, in poetry as a fine art: the art to depict mani- 
festations of the super-sensible order of exalted beauty through speech 
and to reproduce it in such a manner that others may thereby see its 
beauty most clearly, live in it, and enjoy it. According to Jungmann 
the foundation of the definition of sacred eloquence consists in the 
christianized established notion of eloquentia, of eloquence in the narrow 
sense. Jungmann defines it as follows: The oratorical or higher elo- 
quence (eloquentia or ars oratoria) is the art of presenting the good of 
the ethical order by means of speech, in such a way that the presentation 
may determine the hearer to love the good in an effective manner. 
Jungmann finds a defect in the definition of the ancients, even in that 
of Cicero: officium oratoriae facultatis videtur esse: dicer e apposite 
ad persuasionem; finis: persuadere dictione; whereas he praises Quin- 
tilian who, at the end of his dissertation, supplements the definition of 
Cicero: eloquentia est ars dicendi accomodate ad persuadendum quod 
honestum sit, quod oporteat. As soon as art has something for its 
object that is evil then it ceases to be genuine art, because then it 
carries within itself an inartistic disharmony as a germ of destruction, 
according to every possible refinement or perfection of the means of 
art, of technique. In connection with this Jungmann asks the question : 
Does the sophist and the demagogue and the speaker in general, who 
aim at things opposed to the moral order, do they possess eloquence? 

No! There are things which in essence remain intact, both under 
good and evil use (arms, wine). But there are good things of the first 
order, the essence of which is necessarily connected with a proper use 
(Aug. de lib. arb. 2. c. 18, 19, and 50) as, for instance, virtues and the 
fine arts. 

Justice, devotion, temperance, etc., cannot be abused, for in that 
case they would cease to be such. To this class belong also the fine 
arts and, consequently, eloquence. 

The art to promote, by speech, the ethical good and the dexterity 
to create evil through the power of speech, is common to certain means, 
such as style, pronunciation, action, etc. But oratorical eloquence 
possesses other essential means: dialectic argumentation, to establish 
truth, the awakening of noble sentiments, the impression which truth 
itself and the personal faculty and personal noble sentiments of the 
speaker produce, his animation for that which is good, his genuine 
benevolence toward his hearers. (See Plato's Phaidros.) All these 
means the so-called art of the speaker does not possess for evil purposes. 
For this there is sophism instead of dialectics, a lie instead of the truth, 
the arousing of the passions instead of pathos, hypocrisy instead of 
frankness of character and its influence. Does this latter kind of elo- 



32 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

quence cope with the prototype of eloquence in the spirit of God? No 
indeed ! Therefore — the eloquence of the sophist and of the demagogue 
is no eloquence at all. 

Other and more recent authors regard eloquence as a mere formal 
art and contradict the declarations of Jungmann. 

We are in favor of the above-described notion. 

§ 2. Different Forms under which Sacred Eloquence 

Appears 

From the notion of eloquence and sacred eloquence we obtain at 
once an idea of the general forms under which sacred eloquence appears. 

1. There are — as already indicated — three effects naturally 
produced by eloquence: 

(a) The perfection and the illumination of the human mind 
through the knowledge of truth. 

(b) Good, moral actions, through voluntary submission to the 
law of God. 

(c) Esthetic enjoyment, worthy of man, which is essentially 
produced by beauty, sublimity, and gracefulness, and accidentally 
evoked by the charm of novelty, of surprise, and of wit. 

True eloquence, therefore, which corresponds to the idea that 
emanates from the Creator Himself, will produce one of these 
effects. We therefore distinguish: 

(a) A didactic eloquence — or the art to present truth by means 
of speech in such a manner that its presentation is adapted to 
give others a clear and definite knowledge thereof. 

(b) Oratorical, or higher eloquence (eloquentia, ars oratoria), or 
the art to present the good of the ethical order in such a way that 
its presentation may be capable of determining the hearers to a 
decisive and an effective love of that which is good. 

(c) The third form is poetry, the art to present manifestations 
and ideals of human life by means of speech in such a way that 
their presentation produces an esthetic enjoyment, an esthetic 
living up to that which has been received and perceived. 

2. According to these effects the forms of the manifestation of 
sacred eloquence are determined. 

3. In sacred eloquence two rhetorical sides are especially cul- 
tivated. In order that the word of God may become, through 
interior grace, an efficacious principle of Christian life it is neces- 
sary: 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 33 



(a) That men know sufficiently the doctrines of the Christian 
religion as a norm of spiritual life. 

(b) That men accept the truths of Christianity voluntarily and 
heartily, with a firm faith and an active love. 

Practically speaking, the main object is the awakening of a 
Christian life. Therefore, the preacher of the divine word must 
combine (a) and (&), or simply proceed according to (b). 

Hence we distinguish: 

A. The Didactic Sacred Eloquence 

Which is the art to present the doctrines of the Christian re- 
ligion in such a manner that the hearers may obtain thereof a clear 
and definite knowledge and become determined to embrace and 
practise a Christian life, with a firm faith and decisive, efficacious 
love. We do not call this form of sacred eloquence didactic, i.e., 
purely instructive, but didascalic, according to Rom. 15: 4: Quae- 
cumque enim scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam (els rj fxeripav 
SiSacrKaXLav) scripta stmt — " What things soever were written, were 
written for our learning: that through patience and the comfort 
of the Scriptures, we might have hope." — The aim of didascalic 
preaching, therefore, is charity which proceeds from a pure heart, 
and a good conscience, and unfeigned faith, I Tim. 1:5 — in a 
word, practical religious life, even though it emphasizes mainly 
the truths and principles of this life. 

Therefore, even in the didascalic sermon there is never question 
of a purely theoretic instruction without action, will, and spirit. 
(If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels ... I Cor. 13 : 1.) 

Didascalic sacred eloquence appears: 

(a) In Catechetics. 

(b) In the didascalic sermon in general. 

(c) In the didascalic sermon in particular. 

(d) In the homily, but herein by no means exclusively. 

All these forms of manifestations may have a very strong tinge 
of the paregoretic sermon : 

B. The Paregoretic Eloquence 

This is the art of presenting the good of the supernatural order 
by means of speech in such a manner that its presentation be 
adapted to determine the hearer directly toward a decisive and 
effective love of this good. Uapeyopeuv, means: to talk to, to 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



admonish, to comfort, to warn, to strive to effect psychologically, 
by means of speech, the whole faculty of making an effort. 

Among these paregoretic discourses there is one special kind 
which is distinguished from the others and deserves another divi- 
sion: we mean the panegyric discourse. 

Havrjyvpis means an assembly of the people, especially for a 
solemnity, for a feast. During the feasts and the national plays 
of the Greeks speeches were delivered for the glorification of the 
gods and of great men, or for the development of some other fes- 
tive purpose: such a speech was called iraviqyvpiKos L (Wyos) — a 
festive speech, often but not always, a panegyric — a eulogy. 

Panegyric sacred discourses are analogous, in a higher sense, 
to discourses which are delivered on feast days of our Lord, of the 
Blessed Mother, and of the saints and at other festivals, and which 
are delivered in the spirit and for the purpose of the respective 
feast (therefore, not merely eulogies in the more limited sense). 
The paregoretic discourses which do not come under this class are 
simply called paregoretic discourses or parenetic discourses. (Pare- 
netic is simply a technical term: irapaiveoy means pretty much the 
same as Traprjyopeco.) 

These are the various forms of sacred eloquence. A sacred 
discourse which aims solely and directly only at esthetic enjoyment 
is unimaginable. Of course, there is a sacred poetry, and one that 
is exalted and matchless (compare the Psalms, Isaias, the prefaces, 
the hymns, etc.). But sacred eloquence has for its immediate aim 
the creation of supernatural acts. The immediate aim of poetry is 
esthetic enjoyment. Sacred poetry, however, in a more limited 
sense, for instance, in Holy Scripture, in liturgy, never aims at mere 
direct esthetic enjoyment, for it also includes, like all things of a re- 
ligious and liturgical character, a kind of an awakening to a religious 
life : therefore it may be designated as paregoretic eloquence, and as 
a prayer, or as the blossom and fruit thereof. Great poetic crea- 
tions, the subjects of which are taken from supernatural revelation, 
like, for instance, Dante's " Divina Comedia," Klopstock's " Messias," 
and others, which are intended to act esthetically and simply as 
works of art — are, in spite of their spiritual matter, not to be con- 
sidered sacred poetry in the limited sense, but to be classed with 
poetry in general, therefore, as belonging also to profane poetry, 
which likewise, and justly so, selects, at times, the holiest subjects 
for its greatest creations. (Compare Introduction, p. 691, 693, 722.) 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 35 



§ 3. The Psychological Foundation of Sacred Eloquence 1 

After having examined and determined the various relations 
and forms of sacred eloquence, we will now penetrate more deeply 
into its nature. Here we must again emphasize the following 
principles: The supernatural builds upon the natural — and so 
does sacred eloquence, in spite of its entire supernatural character, 
build upon the foundation of natural eloquence — upon psychology. 

Here we must recall to our minds several principles and results 
of psychological investigations, which should be a guide to every 
homiletic consideration. 

1. Man is a complex being — composed of soul and body — a 
compositum humanum. 

2. To the spiritual-sensible nature correspond spiritual-sensible 
faculties and powers: as the nature, so the power. Therefore, 
we distinguish: 

(a) A twofold faculty of cognition in man: a spiritual faculty 
of cognition and a sensible faculty of cognition. 

(b) An appetitive faculty, which is divided into a higher and 
spiritual and a lower, sensible faculty. 

(c) Finally, we distinguish, not as an independent faculty, but 
as fruit of the effect of a change in the spiritual-sensible faculty 
of cognition and of the appetitive faculty — the emotions of feeling 
(Gemuet) and the activity of these emotions (passiones, afectus, 
cor, viscera). Therefore, we simply speak of feeling and often 
mean thereby the whole striving faculty in man, in as much as it is 
directed toward some good and in as far as the whole man appears 
thereby intellectually and sensibly affected. (The "Echo of the 
intellectual in the whole man." — Hettinger.) 

Religion is fully and completely rooted in the intellect and in the 
will, but it also controls mightily and very closely all the feelings of 
man, that is, it dominates the whole man and finds its echo and its 
effects in all spheres and regions of our intellectual-sensitive being. 
But at no time is religion a mere result of feeling for the infinite. 2 

1 Literature: compare Jungmann, Theorie der geistl. Beredsamkeit. 

2 See Jungmann, Theorie der geistl. Beredsamkeit, I. B. I. A. 1-4. Note espe- 
cially the antithesis, and, from another side, the points touching upon Schleiermacher's 
Religionstheorie, and upon the Theorie of Jacobi, and also upon the modern Protestant 
and other philosophical systems, mentioned by Volkelt, Max Mueller, Ritschl, also the 
ideas of Sabbatier, J. Steubeck, Harnack, and others. Compare also Gutberlet's: 
.Apologie; Schnell: Religion und Offenbarung, S. 152 ff. 2. Auflage, 1901. Here the 



36 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



To this we must add that the highest faculty of cognition and of 
appetite is in itself inorganic; but its activity on earth, in the com- 
positum humanum, is bound to the lower faculty of cognition and of 
appetite. This lower power of cognition and of appetite has indeed 
an organ: the nervous system, which acts, however, at the same time 
as the organ of the vegetative life. If, therefore, in the acts of the 
power of higher cognition and appetite the lower faculty of appe- 
tite is powerfully engaged and carried along, then also corporal 
impressions and changes take place, such as: strong emotions of 
the heart, tears, a more rapid circulation of the blood, generally 
more or less vehement sensible effects according to the affection, 
temperament, circumstances, mood, or disposition of the soul. 
From this originated the popular expression, common also in Holy 
Scripture, of " heart" — cor — for feeling {Gemuet) (also viscera, 
pectus). 

3. To the spiritual-sensible nature of man correspond also the 
spiritual-sensible activities of man: agitur sequitur esse. From 
this very important new points of view of sacred eloquence follow: 

(a) The acts of the higher faculty of cognition are in many 
instances prepared, accompanied, and followed by acts of the lower 
faculty of cognition. Therefore, religious instruction and motions 
of the will stand in need of sensible instruction. 

Therefore examples, figures, parables, analogies of all kinds, 
historical characters, illustrations taken from visible practical life are 
really necessary means, demanded by human nature and even 
according to the example of our Blessed Redeemer, in order to act 
upon the intellectual cognition. This is generally and doubly the 
case as far as the people are concerned. 

(b) Even so are the acts of the will often prepared by the acts 
of lower concupiscence, often accompanied and followed by them 
according to circumstances, temperament, and aroused feeling, 
more or less vehement, momentarily or perseveringly. Especially 

apologetical questions are touched: In what sense may it be asserted that the feel- 
ings (Gemuet) are the support of religion? This expression is only correct when by 
feeling we understand the entire appetitive power directed by a believing mind and 
illuminated by a grace which affects the whole compositum humanum. 

Compare, in relation to this question, the Protestant flight of religion in the 
presence of science, into the unapproachable chambers of feeling, as if science were 
not able to ask of feeling also its "wherefore"? and, in opposition to this, consider 
the clear, decisive position of the Catholic religion in regard to the intellect, the will, 
the feeling, and the world — with an open unblushing front and yet with the tenderest 
inner feeling. 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 37 



has feeling, that is, the taking hold of the whole man by one idea 
or by one good object, a powerful influence upon the will, upon its 
determinations and permanent inclinations of life. Even before 
the voluntary act has embraced some good, the involuntary or 
the semi-voluntary feelings, which were spontaneously evoked, 
call and incite thereto very mightily and f orceably . We distinguish : 

(a) Motions of feeling (affectus), i.e., involuntary or semi- 
voluntary emotions of the lower concupiscence or also spontaneous 
or semi-voluntary emotions of fear, of love, of sorrow, of gratitude, 
etc. — Such emotions of the passions, or of intellectual activities 
analogous to the passions, are occasioned by interior and exterior 
grace of God: by the preaching the Word of God. These emotions 
are capable of drawing human nature, thus constituted, toward 
that which is good, and often so powerfully that the expression 
of Christ to St. Paul may be here applied: Durum est tibi contra 
stimulum calcitrare. 1 

Therefore, the exciting of such emotions of feeling is of great 
consequence, a condition sine qua non of every real eloquence 
which is founded on objective truth; therefore, above all of sacred 
eloquence. An eloquence which has for its object no objective 
truth would abuse human nature by exciting the passions in this 
direction: this would be sophistry and the work of demagogues. 
But he who has objective truth and presents it solidly and impress- 
ively, acts in a noble, human, and Christian manner, aye, according 
to God's own example — whenever he excites the feelings : He 
awakens the powers of latent feelings which slumber marvelously 
in the human heart. (Schiller.) 

(/}) We distinguish, furthermore, acts of feeling (actus ex 
affectu), that is, voluntary emotions of feeling which attain full 
consciousness and full possession of the will: therefore, voluntary 
fear of God, which possesses the whole man, voluntary love, volun- 
tary sorrow. In this psychological way arise many acts, resolu- 
tions, deeds, and amendments of life, etc., out of involuntary 
emotions. The power of the word of God and of interior grace 
produce, of course, only then this victory of eloquence when the 
hearer gives his voluntary consent. But it is the office of the 
speaker to arouse emotions of feeling by speech, with the aid of 
supernatural grace, and to foster and to influence them mightily, 
so that the energy of the hearers becomes aroused to transform 

1 Acts 9 : 5. 



38 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



these involuntary emotions into voluntary activities of feeling, into 
acts of the will, into resolutions, and into amendments of life : flec- 
tere victoria est. (Cicero.) (See later on the dissertation on the 
means of sacred eloquence.) Herein consists the most intimate 
connection of the speaker with the free will of his hearers, which, 
of course, in the end manifests itself free. 

These are the psychological foundations upon which all elo- 
quence must be built. 

Definition and the consideration of the essence lead us logically 
and practically to the development of the meaning and the dignity 
of sacred eloquence. 

• § 4. The Significance, Excellence, and Dignity of Sacred 
Eloquence and of the Office of Preaching 

The significance of sacred eloquence and of the office of preach- 
ing follows: 

(a) From the definition of the teaching office and of sacred 
eloquence and also from its object and from the sermon itself. 
Sacred eloquence, in its more exalted sense, is a cure of souls. This 
has been fully shown in the introduction and in the establishment 
of the definition of sacred eloquence. All of these proofs demon- 
strate also the significance, the excellence, and the dignity of sacred 
eloquence. 

(b) From the example and the words of Christ. Christ mani- 
fested Himself principally as a teacher and a preacher; this is 
proven by the four Gospels, with their excellent scenes of preaching. 
Proof of this we find in the words of Christ Himself: Oportet me 
evangelizare regnum Dei, quia ideo missus sum. (Luke 4: 13.) Of 
course, we do not deny that the office of preaching is excelled by 
the priestly office. The office of preaching of Christ appears in 
the whole Gospel in an unique eminent manner. We find our 
Saviour as a preacher on all possible occasions, in the synagogue, 
in the temple, before the people, in presence of the pharisees, in 
the midst of public life, and in solitary places. His public life is 
one great progress of triumph and victor} 7 of sacred eloquence. 
Compare, for instance, the sermon on the Mount, the sermon at 
sea. That which appeared so important to our Saviour — is like- 
wise so to His followers. 

(c) From the example and the words of the Apostles. They 
present the office of preaching as a principal and most prominent 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



duty; see Acts 6: 4, where the Apostles declare at the institution 
of the diaconate: Nos vero orationi et ministerio verbi instantes 
erimus. They regard preaching as the continuation of the teaching 
office of Christ — as the sermon of Christ Himself. (See In trod., 
p. 13-27.) 

From all this it follows that the same thought should dominate 
the preacher which St. Paul expresses in these words : Pro Christo 
legatione fungimur, tanquam Deo exhortante per nos (II Cor. 13: 3); 
sicut angelum Dei excepistis me, sicut Christum Jesum (Gal. 4: 14); 
accepistis Mud non ut verbum hominum, sed {sicut est vere) verbum 
Dei (I Thess. 2: 13). 

(d) From the lips of the Church and of the holy Fathers. The 
Council of Trent says of the office of preaching that it is the prin- 
cipal episcopal (and priestly) office: Hoc est praecipuum episco- 
porum munus. (Sess. V. c. 2.) St. Thomas says: Officium docendi 
commisit Christus Apostolis, ut ipsi Mud exercerent tanquam prin- 
cipalissimum. (St. Thomas, III. q. 67, a. 2 ad 1.) 

(e) From the lips of the saints and of great preachers. — In- 
numerable are the forcible expressions of the saints and great 
preachers upon the importance of the office of preaching, and equally 
as numerous are the labors of these men in this same office. St. 
Francis Xavier writes to a missionary: "Attend, especially, to the 
fulfilment of the offices which are of the most extensive utility. 
Among these the principal one is the office of preaching, next the 
confessional, then private conversations and pious intercourse with 
externs, and finally the performance of good works." 

(/) From the social power and the importance of the Catholic 
pulpit, which furnishes the possibility of influencing often and 
regularly the great masses of the people. Even the opponents, as 
for instance, the socialists, call the possibility of the parochial 
Sunday sermon " a social power, with which the world can be lifted 
from its base," and for which they envy us. The Catholic parochial 
service of high mass and sermon is, in reality, a heart and nerve-center 
of the Church. From these considerations and proofs, however, 
follows the weighty responsibility of the office of preaching. A care- 
less ministration thereof is a betrayal of the representation of Christ 
and of the cure of souls, contained in Christ's commission. From 
the importance of preaching, however, follows its obligation. 



40 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 5. The Obligation of Preaching 

The obligation of preaching is established by the following proofs : 

1. Christ Himself imposed this obligation by His solemn com- 
mand to preach, which is contained in the end of the Gospels, as 
well as by the commands to follow His example as preacher. (See 
Introd.) 

2. The Church, in the Council of Trent, calls this precept 
divine: Praecepto divino mandatum est omnibus quibus animarum 
cura commissa est, oves suas . . . verbi divini praedicatione . . . 
pascere. (Tridentinum, Sess. XXLII c. 1.) 

3. The Church determines this divine precept more fully, as 
follows: 

(a) The Council of Trent orders frequent sermons during mass 
and in connection with the liturgy of the mass. (Sess. XXII, c. 8.) 1 

(b) The Council of Trent orders those having cure of souls, i.e., 
pastors and rectors of parishes, to preach on Sundays and Holy- 
days : Diebus saltern dominicis et festis solemnibus plebes pas cant 
salutaribus verbis. (Trid. Sess. V. c. 2, and Sess. XXIV. c. 4.) 2 

(c) The Council of Trent very strongly recommends frequent 
sermons during Advent and Lent. (Sess. XXIV, c. 7.) 3 

(d) The Council of Trent emphasizes for preachers, especially 
the explanation of the Holy Scriptures (Sess XXIV, c. 4), there- 
fore the homily, next the sermon on the substance of the catechism, 
practical explanations of the liturgy, of the doctrines of faith and 
morals, of grace and the means of grace — and that in all this the 
edification of the people be sought. 

1 Mandat sancta synodus pastoribus et singulis curam animarum gerentibus, ut 
frequenter inter missarum celebrationem . . . vel per se vel per alios . . . aliquid 
exponant . . . diebus praesertim dominicis et festivis (Sess. XXLL c. 8). 

Praecipit s. synodus, ut inter missarum solemnia et divinorum celebrationem vernacula 
lingua sacra eloquia et salutis monita singulis diebus festis explanent eademque in om- 
nibus cordibus inserere alque eos in lege Domini erudire studeant (Sess. XXIV c. 7). 

2 . . . Plebani et quicunque parochiales vel alias curam animarum habentes ecclesias 
quocumque modo obtinent per se vel per alios idoneos, si legitime impediti fuerint diebus 
saltern dominicis et festis solemnibus plebes . . . pascant . . . salutaribus verbis. 
Trid. Sess. V. c. 2. Therefore everywhere, by all who have cure of souls, at least on 
all Sundays and feast-days, sermons should be delivered! The high feast-days are, 
on account of their great significance and on account of the vast concourse of people, 
especially emphasized. See Sess. XXIV. c. 4 and 7. 

3 Tempore autem jejuniorum quadragesimae et adventus quotidie vel saltern tribus 
in hebdomada diebus si ita oportere duxerint, sacras scripturas divinamque legem 
annuntient. S. XXIV. c. 4). 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 41 



A notable omission of the sermon may constitute a grievous 
sin. St. Alphonse of Liguori says, in reference to the degree of 
culpability which follows from the omission of the sermon (Praxis 
Confessarii N. 203): Doctores affirmant, graviter peccare parochum, 
qui per mensem continuum aut per tres menses discontinuos con- 
cionari ommittit, exceptis duobus mensibus in quibus permittit, con- 
cilium Trid. parochis, ex justa causa ab episcopo approbanda, posse 
licite abesse. The Council of Trent speaks, however, of the obliga- 
tion of representation in case of absence of the pastors. Also 
during the two months in which a pastor may, for just reason, be 
absent with episcopal approbation, according to the Trid., care 
however must be taken, according to the possibility, to secure a 
substitute, with due regard to the diocesan statutes and customs. 
In our country (in Switzerland and Germany) the Council of Trent is 
more rigorously observed, happily for pastoration, than is the case, 
for instance, in Italy. Therefore, we consider some of the casuistic 
solutions in this matter by Italian moralists to be too mild. Today 
there is a double obligation for pastors of souls to follow more closely 
the strict observance of Sunday sermons and catechetical instructions. 
There is no possible exchange that could reasonably be made for the 
absolute and regular parochial service attended by the masses. 

(e) This obligation is more fully treated in Provincial councils 
and diocesan statutes, which, of course, directly bind the conscience, 
and are — in praxi — a rule that must be followed. 

The importance and the obligation of preaching lead us naturally 
to the person of the preacher. 

§ 6. The Person or the Preacher 

No office makes a greater demand upon the person of the priest 
than does that of preaching. The reason of this is found in the 
excellence of the office and in the unique and powerful participa- 
tion of the human personality in the execution of the office. 

In the course of our homiletic studies we will frequently have to 
speak of the scientific abilities of the preacher. Here the expres- 
sion of St. Jerome to Nepotian may be justly applied: "Nolo te 
declamatorem esse . . . sed mysteriorum peritum et sacramentorum 
Dei tui eruditissimum." 

Here we merely desire to call attention to the ascetic quali- 
fications of a saintly disposition and life, which are of incalculable 
value to the preacher. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



We mean the personal ascetic disposition and duties of the 
preacher in general and in particular, and we shall follow herein 
partly the excellent explanation of Schleiniger's "Kirchliches 
Predigtamt." (See 3rd ed. p. 31-71, n. 11-17.) 

1. The saintly disposition and life of the preacher in general. 
This is required: 

(a) In view of God. The Old and the New Testament pro- 
nounce the will of God very clearly upon this point. See, for 
instance, the vision of the calling of the prophet Isaias, c. 6, 5, 9 
(compare herewith the Munda cor meum before the Gospel), the 
impressive vocation of the prophet Jeremias, the grand example 
of our Lord (His thirty years of preparation at Nazareth and finally 
in the desert) — the preparation of the Apostles for Pentecost : 
Sedete in civitate quoadusque induamini virtute ex alto (Luke 24:49) 
— the ascetic preparation for the vocation of St. Paul, by an in- 
terior life, by prayer and solitude in Arabia: Vas electionis mihi 
est iste, ut portet nomen meum coram gentibus et regibus et filiis 
Israel. 1 All of this may be comprised within the words of Christ: 
Vos estis sal terrae, vos estis lux mundi. 

(b) In view of our neighbor. This saintly disposition and life 
is the source of genuine zeal for souls. " Heart only speaks to 
heart, the voice simply speaks to the ear." (St. Francis of Sales.) 
The preacher must be able to invite all, if only in a remote manner, 
as did St. Paul: Imitator es mei estote, sicut et ego Christi. (I Cor. 
4: 16.) The importance of this disposition is also indicated by 
the words of St. Gregory the Great: Qui loci necessitate exigitur 
summa dicere hac eadem necessitate compellitur summa monstrare 
(Greg. Reg. past., p. 2, c. 2), and: cujus vita despicitur ejus prae- 
dicatio contemnatur (L. 12). All of which again is contained in 
the words of Christ addressed to His Apostles in the legislative 
and programmatic sermon on the Mount: Vos estis sal terrae, vos 
estis lux mundi. (Matt. 5: 13, 14.) 

(c) In view of himself. The preacher must render himself fruit- 
ful, i.e., he must, above all, save his own soul; he must chisel and 
paint within himself an image of Christ: Castigo corpus meum et 
in servitutem redigo: ne forte cum aliis praedicaverim, ipse reprobus 
efficiar. (I Cor. 9: 27.) To him who preaches in words for God 
and in works against God, the words of Christ may very aptly 
be applied: Be ore tuo te judico, serve nequam. (Luke 19: 22.) 

1 Acts 9 : 15. 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 43 



Only he who makes religion a matter of the heart and of conduct 
can become a true preacher of religion, for: ex abundantia cordis 
os loquitur! 

2. Some characteristic qualifications of a true preacher. Of all 
qualifications of a saintly disposition and life the following deserve 
to be especially mentioned, as apostolic qualifications of a preacher: 

(a) A spirit of faith, i.e., a churchly consciousness of joyful 
faith. Faith, the spirit of faith, a delight in faith, a scientific 
and a contemplative self-absorption in faith, is the key of victory 
over hearts: Haec est victoria, quae vincit mundum, fides nostra! 
The sermon is, in reality, a scattering of the seed of faith, a school 
of faith, a victory of faith, and it is in itself the fruit and act of 
faith, coming from the very root of faith. Of this spirit of faith 
in St. Stephen it is said: Vir plenus fide et Spiritu Sancto — et non 
poterant resistere sapientiae et spiritui qui loquebatur. (Acts 6: 5, 10.) 
Here is meant faith, and especially the spirit of faith, a holy delight 
in faith, a spiritual atmosphere and supernatural light of faith, a faith 
which is the root of the whole character and of the breath of life. 

To this joyful, living faith belongs likewise the more intimate 
and joyful living union with the Church, with her definitions and 
her spirit; for she is the regula proxima fidei: The preacher, as 
the bearer of light, must stand as near the light as possible. This 
joyful union with the Church and the ecclesiastical sources of 
truth afford the preacher a triumphant security and independence: 
u Mea doctrina non est mea, sed ejus qui misit me" This spirit 
must be the pulsation of the whole life of the preacher. Modern 
times require modern methods and modern illuminations of ancient 
truths, but never the throwing overboard of ancient truths or the 
rejection of ecclesiastical, dogmatic methods and principles. The 
Vatican council describes, in a splendid manner, the importance 
of faith in the preacher of modern times. 

We must, therefore, require in the preacher: 

(a) A personal deep religious life. 

(ft) A scientific and ascetic penetration into the entire system 
of faith, which presents to him a world-wide view. (Dogmatic 
studies.) 

(y) An apologetic penetration into the deposit of faith, which 
should be for the preacher a superior armor and a source of light 
and of life, to which he should invite and draw the world most 
forcibly. 



44 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(S) A catechetical penetration into the unique treasury of 
faith, of which he withholds nothing from humanity, and the riches 
of which he discloses to the eyes of the admiring faithful. 

(b) A spirit of prayer. One of the most fundamental laws of 
preaching is announced by our Blessed Lord: Qui manet in me et 
ego in eo y hie fert fructum multum, quia sine me nihil potestis faeere. 
(John 15: 5.) Preaching is really the thoroughly supernatural 
continuation of one of the offices of Christ, a complete supernat- 
ural collaboration with the Holy Ghost. It was precisely on this 
account that the Apostles designated the obligation of prayer 
as their first and that of preaching as their second duty (Acts 6:4): 
Nos vero orationi et minister io verbi instantes erimus. St. Augustin 
puts the fundamental view of the holy Fathers into his great 
admonition to the preachers: Sit orator antequam dictor (de doct. 
Christ., 1. IV, c. 15). 

Meditation is necessary above everything else. Christ says 
Himself: Ex abundatia cordis os loquitur. 1 

St. Thomas Aquinas expresses this fundamental principle of 
all great theoreticians and practitioners in this theological sentence : 
ex plenitudine contemplationis derivatur praedicatio. 2 The practical 
importance of meditation cannot be too strongly urged upon the 
office of preaching: it is indeed the very key of all practical and 
real methods. 

Meditation transforms scripture and tradition, dogma and 
ascetics into heart and life, into the flesh and blood of the preacher. 
The sermon has two momentous points: one objective, the other 
subjective: objective truth and subjective penetration into truth 
on the part of the preacher. If both are combined in a live manner 
then the preacher is fully and completely engaged in the service 
of truth. This is accomplished through meditation. Eloquence is 
essentially an effect of personality; supernatural truth, however, 
unites itself through meditation, and especially through contin- 
ued meditation, in a wonderfully intimate and strong manner to 
the personality of the preacher. The sermon is, furthermore, 
essentially a direction of the life of souls. But that which pene- 
trates one's own life and becomes rooted therein, receives form 
and becomes a heart and a nerve center and life itself — that acts 
likewise upon others. Thus the sermon becomes that which was 
generally said of the preaching of the l'abbe Vianny — a sort of a 
1 Matth. 12:31. 2 Thom. Summa theo. 2, 2 q. 188 a. 6. 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 45 



continued meditation with the people. The real ego must with- 
draw entirely in the preacher: oportet me minui, ilium autem {Chris- 
tum) crescere. But the priest empties himself and becomes replete 
with Christ precisely through meditation. (John 3 : 30.) 

Therefore, of the preacher is required: 

(a) A regular meditation of some kind. 

Meditation especially on the life of Christ. 

(y) By way of a preparation, often a meditation on the specific 
subject of the sermon. 

(S) Frequent mementos in prayer for specific preaching pur- 
poses and difficulties, especially during the recitation of the office 
(cf. The Hours) and at mass. 

Corollary 

Meditation and the meditative preparation of the sermon prevent 
so-called self-exhaustion in preaching. 

The words of the prophet Isaias are fulfilled in the preacher: Panis 
ei datus est; aquae ejus jideles sunt. The bread of life is given him: his 
fountains of water are sure; they never go dry. In meditation or in 
the short moments of recollection man lives not only on terrestrial bread, 
but on the word which comes from the mouth of God. And behold! 
how "the living Bread, which came down from heaven," — Christ in 
the Holy Eucharist — in a few quiet hours and moments of meditation 
before the blessed sacrament, in the gratiarum actione, in visitatione 
Sanctissimi, becomes the Bread of spirit and of life: panis ei datus est: 
aquae ejus jideles sunt. Meditation and recollection lead to Christ 
Jesus, who calls out to us in a loud voice: qui sitit veniat ad me. Once 
upon a time, toward the end of the feast of the tabernacles, Christ stood 
upon the upper part of the temple. The Jews were passing, in solemn 
procession, from the temple to the fountain of Siloe and brought water 
therefrom back in procession into the court of the temple, singing these 
verses of Isaias: Haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris. That 
moment Christ uttered these momentous words: He who thirsts, let 
him come to me! If the preacher has drawn from the fountains of the 
Scriptures, from theology and liturgy, if he has drawn with an earnest 
effort — then let him bring the drawn waters to Jesus first, i.e., let him 
make a short meditation on the subject and the specific intention of his 
sermon, or place it, at least in a few moments of silent recollection, 
before Jesus. Then the matter and intention will properly reveal 
themselves in their full light of the cure of souls. Why should we not 
enter into a colloquy with Jesus about our sermon? Every sermon is 
an act performed in the kingdom of Christ — a grand act. It is surely 



46 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



worth the while to speak to Jesus about it, before the finishing touches 
are put to it. It should be the fruit of labor, of earnest, indirect, and 
direct expenditure of all powers and talents: qui ascendit sine labore, 
descendit sine honore! ' But the sermon should not merely give evidence 
of the oil-lamp: si scires donuni Dei, et quis est, qui tibi dicit . . . tu 
jorsitan pelisses ab eo, et dedisset tibi aquam vivani (John 4: 10). Spiritus 
ubi vult spirat, et vocem ejus audis, sed nescis unde veniat aut quo vadat. 
(John 3: 8.) In recollection, prayer, and meditation the truths which 
are gathered deep down in faith and in theological study pass, as it were, 
into flesh and blood, and then it is that the whole preacher speaks to 
the people : the joyful and living possession of truth and the love which 
longs to communicate this love, urge the pastor of souls on. Thus the 
fountains of water remain sure for the preacher, they do not go dry nor 
does he exhaust himself. (Isaias 33: 16.) 

(c) The spirit of humility. Christ emphasized in the Apostolic 
school the spirit of humility with His whole authority: by word, 
by example, and by the instruction of His own. A few outlines 
of this picture will suffice. The Savior taught this humility of 
the preacher in word and in deed: " honor ijico pair em meum . . . 
ego non quaero gloriam meam." 1 The angels sang at His birth: 
Gloria in altissimis Deo. 2 And toward the end of His active life 
our Saviour acknowledged, in His great parting address: Ego te 
clarificavi super ten am: opus consummavi quod dedisti mihi ut 
faciam. 3 His whole teaching and life are contained in these words 
of the Scriptures: semetipsum exinanivit.* When the Apostles had 
returned from their successful preaching tour and had narrated to 
Him in a gleeful manner their beautiful and effective sermons, the 
Lord surprised them with this expression: Videbam Satanam sicut 
fulgur de coelo cadentem. 5 He saw Satan fleeing before their work. 
But He reminded them also at the same time of the exalted posi- 
tion of Lucifer who, in consequence of his pride, sank with light- 
ning rapidity into the abyss — a warning example to preachers, 
who are the light-bearers of Christ ! — Lumen Chrisli — the preacher 
should be able to say as does the deacon on Holy Saturday: and 
not lumen meum! The humility of the preacher is the constant 
theme of the Acts of the Apostles and of the example of the Apostles : 
loquimur non quasi hominibus placentes, sed Deo, qui probat corda 



1 John 8 : 49, 50. 2 Luke. 2 : 14. 

3 See John, 17, and the splendid Gospel of the vigil of the Ascension. 

4 Philip. 2:7. 6 Luke 10 : 18; 10 : 20, 21 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



nostra, non quaerentes ab hominibus gloriam. 1 The saints speak in 
like manner, and also the ascetics and the great preachers. The 
following are not merely empty words which a St. Francis Xavier 
writes to P. Barzaeus, a man of extraordinary piety and a most 
excellent missionary: Above all things strive to gather from the 
results, which attend your preaching to the people, an occasion to 
humble yourself more and more, by recognizing most clearly and 
acknowledging most openly that of all the good performed noth- 
ing is attributable to yourself. Be convinced that if you per- 
severe steadfastly in this holy disposition of humility and in the 
effort of acknowledging your faults most minutely, then you will 
reap a great increase not only in personal perfection, but also in 
splendid results in the cure of souls, and experience will teach you 
the truth, not patent to all, that all hope of genuine and great 
fruit rests solely and alone with the preacher on the contempt of 
himself. 2 

Hence, it is required of the preacher that he often contemplate: 

(a) The depth of his own misery. 

The depth of the misery of all men. 

(y) The depth of the richness of God and of Christ. 
Humility regards God, the world, and self in a proper light: 
Humilitas est virtus qua quis verissima sui ipsius cognitione sibi 
ipsi vilescit et vacuus sui plenus Deo sine respectu humano sed cum 
commiseratione humana quae Dei sunt facit usque ad heroica ! 

(d) The spirit of love. Love is the secret of the fruitfulness of 
preaching. Love is the principal virtue and precept, the kernel, 
and the star of all perfection, the germ of every other virtue; love, 
which always stands in silence before God — the supreme good 
and most worthy of love in Himself — which seeks this good, 
that is most worthy of love, in the crib and in the life of the Saviour, 
under the crown of thorns and upon the cross as well as in the 
splendor of Easter, which finds it and clings to it, this love which 
sees in every one, even in the most abandoned and abject of men, 
"something of God," a real or an adopted child of God, the soul 
of which is to be saved at all cost — love which seeks God alone 
and desires to direct all things to God, this love is the very soul 
of sacred eloquence: Caritas Christi urget nos: this is the highest 

1 1 Thess. 2, 4, 5, 6. Compare also the two letters to the Corin. which give us a 
deep insight into the disposition of the preaching and pastoration of St. Paul. 
2 St. Fr. Xavier Lettres, i : 4. ep. i : 4. 



48 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



homiletic principle. 1 Nothing is as fruitful nor as forceful in 
transforming the world as love. Examine the beautiful thirteenth 
chapter of I Cor., which reveals the focus of all pastoral theology. 
Without love all talent of preaching is fruitless : Si Unguis hominum 
loquar et angelorum, caritatem autem non habeatn, /actus sum velut 
aes sonans et cymbalum tinniens. 2 As the Scriptures, so do likewise 
the Fathers of the Church and the great ascetics and preachers 
judge. Of the fruitlessness of many preachers Cardinal Bellarmin 
says: Ego nullam invenio causani, nisi quia plurimum condones 
eruditae et elegantes et floridae funduntur, sed deest anima, deest 
vita, deest ignis, breviter — magna ilia caritas deest, quae sola potest 
dicentium verba animare et corda audientium inflammare et commutare. 3 

Love is also the teacher of all methods, the guide for all old 
and new vfays, the guard against self-sufficiency, against routine 
and rut, against exasperation and dejection, against all deadly 
foes of true eloquence. Love is never discouraged, either by the 
presence of great throngs or of small audiences. 4 Compare here- 
with the second part of the thirteenth chapter of I Cor. St. John 
of Avila says : I know no other rule for pulpit eloquence than the 
love of God and zeal for His honor! St. Dominic calls love the 
book wherein he, as preacher, was taught everything. 5 

With these expressions of love the examples of the true love of 
the preachers mentioned in the Bible and ecclesiastical history 
fully agree. The scenes of the preaching contained in the Gospels 
are resplendent sunlights of love, from the dawn of the public life 
of Christ to the sunset of His love manifested in His parting address, 
in which once more the entire splendor of His heart flashes upon 
us in a purple glow. From this the preacher must learn! The 
Gospel is especially a high-school of zeal for souls. At the end of 
His life, and shortly before the Ascension, our Blessed Lord con- 
ferred the power of the papacy upon St. Peter, and with it the 
supreme office of teaching the truth and precisely on the condition 
of love. Back in the past, the entire messianic life lay open, and 
ahead in the future loomed the grand future of the Church of Christ. 
It was then that Christ proposed thrice the one great question to 
this the first of all preachers: Simon, lovest thou me? Christ 

1 II Cor. 5 : 14. 2 1 Cor. 13 : 1. 

3 Ascensio mentis in Deum, grad. 6. 

4 See Camus — appropriate examples taken from the life of St. Francis de Sales. 

6 Lacordaire, Vie du St. Dominique, ch. 4. 



FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 49 

puts the same question to every one upon whom He confers the 
preaching office: Lovest thou me? To this all personal prepara- 
tion of the preacher must be directed, that he may honestly confess : 
Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee! 1 

This pastoral love we also learn, in its reality, in the lives of 
the Apostles. Especially do the letters of St. Paul give us a deep 
insight into his apostolic heart. We will only mention a few pas- 
sages: Cupide volebamus trader e vobis evangelium Dei sed etiam 
animas nostras ! 2 Libentissime impendam et super imp endar ipse 
pro animabus vestris. 3 Optabam ego ipse anathema esse a Christo 
pro fratribus meis. 4 Os nostrum patet ad vos, 0 Corinthii, cor nostrum 
dilatatum est. 5 Epistola nostra vos estis, scripta in cor dibits nostris* 
Testis enim mihi est Deus, quoniam cupiam omnes vos in visceribus 
Christi. Coarctor autem e duobus: desiderium habens dissolvi et esse 
cum Christo, multo magis melius: permanere autem in came neces- 
sarium propter vos, 1 . . . et si immolar super sacrificium et obse- 
quium fidei vestrae, gaudeo et congrattdor omnibus vobis . . . Itaque 
fratres mei carissimi et desideratissimi, gaudium meum et corona 
mea: sic state in Domino, carissi?ni. 8 Such passages deserve to 
be thoroughly studied and contemplated: they flash and blaze 
forth the apostolic view of the world. 

For the same reason the reading of extensive biographies of the 
saints and great men, who were prominent in preaching, may 
become a school of burning zeal for us: for instance, of a John of 
Avila, a Dominic, a Francis Xavier, and especially of a Francis 
of Sales by l'abbe Boulanger, 2 vols., of Bishop Wittmann of Mit- 
termueller, of Bishop Sailer of Aichner, and others. 

The reading of some of the chapters, of some of the more prom- 
inent works on sacred eloquence, on the person, the qualifications, 
and the ideals of the preacher, for instance, such works as that of 
Jungmann's Theorie, Schleiniger's Predigtamt, Alban Stolz's Homi- 
letic, Audisios' Lectures, Hettinger's Aphorisms, Fenelon's Dia- 
logues, would influence, no doubt, the pastor very strongly and 
fruitfully from time to time. Not the whole time of preparation 
of the sermon should be spent in chasing after material in endless 

1 John 21 : 15-17. 4 Rom. 9:3. 

2 1 Thes. 2:8. 5 II Cor. 6 : 11-15. 

3 II Cor. 12 : 15. 6 II Cor. 6 : 11, 13 sqq. 

7 Phil. 1 : 23, 24; 2 : 17-18 : 4 : 1. 

8 Phil. 1:3-8; 23-26; 2 : 17-18; 4:1. See also the excellent collection of texts 
in Schleiniger's Predigtamt, p. 68 sqq., (3. ed). 



50 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



sermon-books! From personal intercourse and from the conver- 
sation and many other sources of instructions of many pastors, 
there emanates oftentimes more love than from their sermons, 
because, by a too close and slavish adhesion to certain sermon- 
books, and by much reading of sources of a third or fourth-rate 
quality, love is barred and the heart is pressed into very narrow 
molds. 

Love teaches and supplies finally a homiletic tact, simply because 
it loves and desires to save, not to bang away nor to annihilate; 
because it is able to show, with a holy earnestness, the attractivity 
and the infinitely lovable side of the religion of Christ; because it 
does not overrate one's own person, but duly considers the time, 
the circumstances, and the age of the preacher and of the hearers, 
and without any side-issues leads directly to the one end — to 
Christ. Love is not puffed up, is not indiscreet; it is mild and 
patient . . . (See I Cor. 13.) 

After having learned to comprehend the essence and the fun- 
damental rules of sacred eloquence, we will now examine its 
principal laws. 



TBoofe II 



THE TWO SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED 
ELOQUENCE 



EE aim of the sermon is the supernatural life of the people. 
This aim is, therefore, in its inmost nature, a thoroughly 
practical one, which extends to all the people, therefore, 
a popular one. Hence two supreme principles arise 
from the nature and the aim of sacred eloquence: 

1. Preach in a practical manner. 

2. Preach in a popular manner. 

These two supreme principles of eloquence are to be understood, 
of course, in a supernatural sense : proceeding from faith and grace. 

CHAPTER I 
THE PRACTICAL SERMON 

Article I. General Laws of the Practical Sermon 

The preacher must endeavor, by each one of his discourses, to 
awaken a desire for a practical, supernatural Christian life. 
A sermon is, therefore, practical: 

i. If it responds in an effective manner to true and real require- 
ments of a Christian life. 

If for this very reason it presents resolutions and applica- 
tions, which operate directly upon the life, to the hearers, and, 
without any more ado, are suitable to their conditions and enter 
mightily and effectively into their lives and effect a renewal of life 
and an amelioration of the Christian character. 

If, on the contrary, the hearers only arrive thereat through 
tedious deductions from the sermon; if, therefore, the preacher 
did not endeavor to penetrate into the inmost life of the soul, and 
to act directly upon the thoughts and deeds of the listener, — then 
the sermon was not practical. 

S 1 




52 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The practical preacher takes life as it is. He comprehends 
human nature, takes it as it lives, acts, and feels. He measures 
thought, deeds, words, and customs, and the entire life and inner 
ideas by the rule of the Gospel. He then desires to gain a definite, 
concrete influence over human actions and omissions, to introduce 
principles and the spirit of Christ and of His Church into the lives 
of individuals and into all phases and conditions of this life, and to 
have them operate therein. He not only desires to lead the people 
in the abstract and in general, but in a vivid and concrete manner 
with a direct and striking application, full of spirit and of strength, 
immediately to a Christian faith, thought, feeling, action, and 
suffering, even down to the very details, and thus lead them effec- 
tively to their end — life eternal. Thus the word of God exercises 
its full force : vivus est sermo Dei et efficax et penetrabilior omni gladio 
ancipite et pertingens usque ad divisionem animae et spiritus, com- 
pagum quoque et medullarum et discretor cogitationum et intentio- 
num cordis. (Heb. 4: 12.) Such is the Biblical description of the 
practical sermon. A sermon is practical, therefore, if its matter 
be selected with these views and a sermon-book be not slavishly 
followed whose discourses were intended for other times and other 
conditions. A sermon is, therefore, practical if it is inspired in 
each case by entirely clear and living objective thoughts: Finis est 
anima actionis et orationis. What special holy aim do I desire to 
attain by this sermon in the hearers and under these circumstances? 
A sermon is, therefore, practical whenever the matter is thus se- 
lected, and made subservient to a definite aim and is minutely 
and thoroughly worked out in this spirit. 

These thoughts lead us naturally to several important con- 
siderations : 

(a) Concerning the selection of a practical subject for a sermon. 

(b) Concerning the determination of a definite and practical and 
entirely special aim of the sermon. 

{c) Concerning a practical development of the selected practical 
subject, in the light of this practical aim. 

Article II. The Practical Selection of a Subject 

He who would preach a practical sermon must select, above all, 
a practical subject. He who determines the subject of a sermon 
carelessly, according to some certain sermon-book, does certainly 
not work for actual life. In using good works of sermons one must 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 53 



be guided by the question: Where did the composer preach? In 
cities or in the country? In what century? In circumstances 
similar or dissimilar to ours? etc. But those who draw from their 
own resources exclusively are also upon a wrong road. Either 
they look upon the matter too lightly and are with their own "ego" 
and their own discourses entirely too readily satisfied, and become 
thus spiritless and mere clap-trap preachers, or they feel that they 
never approach the people and, as pessimists, soon lose all courage : 
both denote a decline in homiletic work. It is, therefore, of great 
practical importance to consider the selection of a subject in a 
truly pastoral manner. A deeper view of the truly pastoral heart: 
(a) into the theological science; (b) into liturgy; and (c) into the 
lives of the people — will indicate the way. 

I. POINT. THEOLOGICAL SCIENCE — A GUIDE TO PRACTICAL 

PREACHING 

Theological science always wielded a great influence upon the 
development of preaching and, especially, in regard to the selection 
of a subject. 

1. For a practical selection of a subject scientific theology is 
indeed not the only guide, but a most necessary and a sure one. 
Without solid and sure knowledge of theology and a deep com- 
prehension thereof, genuine practical preaching will be an impos- 
sibility. The sermon is really the practical popularization of 
theology. He who has no knowledge cannot teach, and he who has 
no treasury to select from cannot select practically. Our Lord Him- 
self established this homiletic rule: Omnis scriba doctus in regno 
coelorum similis est homini patrifamilias qui profert de thesauro suo 
nova et Vetera. 1 

2. But scientific theology treats of a great many things, that 
are purely speculative, and scholastic questions which have imme- 
diately, for practical life, only a remote or no significance what- 
ever. The preacher must, therefore, select those subjects and 
seek out those confirmations which are for the mind, feeling, and 
the action of the people of a decisive importance. For this the 
following methods, which seek that which is mainly practical in 
theology, will be of great utility: 

(a) A view of that which necessitate medii et praecepti, must 
necessarily be believed, known, and practised. Therefore, theses 

1 Matth. 13 : 52. 



54 HOMXLETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and tracts of this character should be selected, for instance, for 
a cycle of sermons, and deeply, scientifically, and ascetically 
considered. These things must be preached over and over 
again. (See Moral: de fide.) Whatever must necessarily be be- 
lieved and done, necessitate medii et praecepti y constitutes the sub- 
stance of the catechism, the creed, the decalogue, the Our Father, 
the sacraments. 

(b) A glance into the Gospels, with the thought: What doc- 
trines and requirements of theology does Christ Himself place 
in prominence? See the Gospels of the Sundays. Occasionally — 
and not merely on the eves of Sundays — the Sunday Gospels 
should be quietly read, or entire chapters of the Gospel, under the 
following view-points: What does Jesus require over and over 
again? What does He insist upon mostly? What does He teach 
with the most cogent reasons and most powerful pathos? To 
what does He, especially, educate the Apostles and the people? 
Thus — with pen in hand — the preacher could gain for himself 
many fruitful hours. Such indirect evangelical preparations are a 
key to the mysteries of practical preaching. 

(c) An insight into the Roman Catechism, which is really an 
official ecclesiastical text-book for pastors, and for all who have 
the care of souls, is of great advantage for a practical selection of 
subjects for sermons. But alas! This book is too often a mere 
receptacle of dust in the library. 

(d) A study of the diocesan catechism with the question: 
What truths, and cycles of truths, have for a long time not been 
preached? These ought to be selected, at once, for a preparatory 
study. Such pastoral forages often lead to very interesting results. 
A pastor or rector of a church should keep a summary list of all 
the themes of the sermons which have been preached in his church. 
Bishop Ketteler required the production of such a list by diocesan 
statute. 

(e) A view of life: What truths, precepts, and means of the- 
ology do the people need mostly? How can I arouse an interest 
for them and make them attractive? 

(/) A glance into good sermon-books, especially into such 
which contain entire cycles of sermons, in a consistent keeping 
with theological tracts. 

(g) In addition to all this, an attentive study of the Vatican 
Council, the latest papal encyclical, the episcopal pastorals and 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 55 



decrees with this question in view: Of which subjects for sermons 
does the Church remind me? 

(h) To make science a good guide for a practical selection of 
a theme, works should be especially selected which maintain a mean 
between real scholastic presentation and popular diction, such, for 
instance, as the religious hand-books of Willmer, S.J., "The gift 
of Pentecost, " by Meschler, S.J., and others. We recommend very 
highly the smaller and the larger "Hand-book of Religion," by 
Willmer, which is a real arsenal for a preacher. Simply the small, 
concise "Handbook of the Catholic Religion," by Willmer, possibly 
with the dogma by Hurter, Scheeben, Heinrich, or others — with 
his excellent division of matter, the pointed and original precise 
theses and their solid defense — these constitute a pillar for a 
bridge to be built on the banks of scholastic theology, to reach 
the strand of the theology of the people. A larger dogma, Will- 
mer's "Religious Text-book," and possibly a cycle of good cate- 
chetical instructions, to give a concrete example, form indeed a 
rich collection of material for the selection of practical subjects. 
But alas! too many become absorbed in an excess of books: and 
thus arise those transparent wishy-washy sermons, which contain 
no meat, those barren fields of platitudes without the least theo- 
logical salt. A study of the above-mentioned or similar works 
would guard against these fundamental faults. 

When buying or studying scientific works the question should 
occasionally be asked: What does this work contain in the line 
of material for sermons, either directly or indirectly? 

Scientific theology makes a sermon solid, and protects it against 
exaggeration. 

It is an exceedingly sad prejudice to declare that nothing can 
be found useful for a sermon in theological works. On the con- 
trary, however, science must not merely dissolve itself into specu- 
lation and casuistry, but should cultivate, as Leo XIII emphasizes 
in his encyclical on Holy Scripture, positive theology which draws 
copiously from the Scriptures and Tradition, and thus renders a 
service of great homiletic value. 

H. POINT. LITURGY AND THE SELECTION OF A SUBJECT 

A. General Remarks 
Liturgy is a most excellent and direct guide for a practical 
selection of subjects for sermons. 



56 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Proof, i. The whole ecclesiastical year is a repetition and 
renewal of the life of Christ. But Christ Jesus is the principal 
subject of preaching: Insculpere (debemus) populorum in animis 
germanam notionem et prope imaginem Jesu Christi . . . in sermone, 
in condone ubicumque se det occasio. (Leo XIII. Encycl. de Re- 
demptore 1900, ad fin.) 

2. Every formula of a mass and every office gives us an impor- 
tant point in the life of Christ, some mystery, some doctrine, some 
precept of Jesus, some grace of Christ, especially on feast-days 
and Sundays. Thus there is opened to the preacher a methodical 
guide to preach during the course of the year: on the person of 
Jesus, His deeds, His doctrines, His grace, His precepts, in prac- 
tically selected themes, which are connected with the ecclesiastical 
year. Thus the liturgy becomes a practical guide. 

3. Ecclesiastical liturgy is also a compendium of all religious 
truths, since it presents in the course of one year, partly directly 
and partly indirectly, during the course of Sundays and feast-days 
and the various ecclesiastical seasons, the entire contents of re- 
ligion methodically divided. Thus liturgy becomes once more a 
guide for a practical selection of subjects. 

We propose to devote special attention to this point during the 
entire course of our homiletic studies. Liturgy is really a com- 
pendium of Scripture, of the Fathers, of dogma, of pragmatics, of 
moral, of ascetics, of religion transformed into flesh and blood, 
into spirit and life. A deeper, practical conception of liturgy is, 
therefore, the best way to select practical themes. Liturgy makes 
the preacher especially acquainted and familiar with two things 
which are the soul and heart-pulse of eloquence: with the spirit 
of the holy Scripture and with the spirit of the Church. It teaches 
the preacher practically what the words mean: Oninis Scriptura 
. . . utilis ad docendum . . . ut per consolationem Scripturarum 
spem habeamus ... It teaches the meaning of the words of St. 
Jerome: Ignorantia Scripturarum ignorantia Christi est. But it 
also teaches how to make the pulsation of the heart of the living 
Church of God sensible to the people. 

B. Special Remarks 

In the Third Book, on p. 176-570, we shall treat of liturgy exclu- 
sively and in practical examples, as a guide for the practical selection of 
themes. Here we can merely give scanty rules and present a few 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 57 



examples. We refer here especially to a later chapter on the sources of 
sacred eloquence: The liturgy and the ecclesiastical year, p. 165-570. 

He who desires to follow liturgy as a practical guide for the 
selection of subjects must consider the following points: 

1. The exegesis of liturgy. Interpret the entire formulary of the 
mass according to its literal sense and in relation to the day and 
the season of the feast. Then, compare the thoughts and the 
texts among themselves. Try this, for instance — with pen in 
hand — on the formulary of the mass of the first Sunday of Advent : 
on the Introit, the Epistle, the Gospel, and the Communio. Con- 
sult a commentary on the Bible and possibly Dippel's or Gueranger's 
Ecclesiastical Year, Amberger's Pastoral Theology (liturgy), etc. 
Then ask yourself: What is the meaning of these passages? why 
does the Church propose these precisely today? and you will be 
astonished at the fruitful field of practical themes gained for many 
years to come from such indirect preparatory work of a few hours. 
(See: Sources of eloquence: The Ecclesiastical Year, p. 170-570.) 

2. The essential thoughts and the main facts of the liturgy. Ask 
yourself: What is the main thought of the mystery, the proper 
idea of the feast of today? 

(a) Often it is an event in the life of Christ, by which we should 
learn to know Jesus better (Gospel) and to which the Epistle makes 
a general or an entirely special allusion (selection of an homily — 
add some thoughts upon the Epistle as a central application). 

(b) Often it is a mystery of the life of Christ, or of religion in 
general, for instance, on great feast-days. Here ask yourself: 

(a) What is the principal idea of the feast? Often it is con- 
tained in the Gospel, for instance, on Christmas, Epiphany, etc.; 
often in the Epistle, for instance, on Pentecost; often in the Introit, 
especially if it be compared with the Epistle and Gospel, for in- 
stance, on Candlemas-day: The visitation of Jesus and Mary in 
the temple. Still more exactly: The morning offering of Jesus and 
Mary in the temple. Compare herewith the Introit, the Gospel, 
and possibly Heb. 10 : 5-7. We simply and very briefly suggest 
here, by an example, some practical ways which lead from this 
liturgy into life. (See Holy Scripture as a source: Homilectic 
exegesis: p. 149 sqq.) 

Example. The liturgy of Candlemas-day, as a guide to a 
practical selection of subjects. 



58 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The festive thought is — primarily — the visitation of the Messianic 
child in the temple, accompanied by His mother. The Introit, as 
always, opens the portals of the feast (Ps. 47): Suscepimus, Deus, 
misericordiam tuam in medio tenipli lull The prophecy of Malachy, 
on the visitation of the Messiah in the temple, c. 3, in the Epistle, 
is here for the first time fulfilled; (Gospel) the second time in the 
visitation at Easter, of the Child Jesus at the age of twelve; and fully 
and entirely in that first resplendent Easter visitation, during His 
public life, when His hour had come. Its echoes are the visitations in the 
temple on the grand feasts, narrated in the Gospel of St. John. Com- 
pare the text of Malachy with the evangelical description of these visi- 
tations. Whom do you resemble when you are in the temple with Jesus ? 
Mary? Joseph? Simeon? Anna? The pharisees? or the people of 
Israel ? 

A deeper fundamental thought of the feast is shown by the morning 
offering of Jesus and Mary. What Jesus inwardly prayed for and the 
offering He made, when the sacrificial blood of the dove was spilt over 
the altar, St. Paul indicates in Hebrew 10:5-7. There the morning 
prayer of Jesus is described "at the entrance into the world" (at the 
incarnation and the first public entrance into the world, at the time of 
the first visitation in the temple). He offered Himself, His life, His 
humanity, His blood. At the head of the book of His life it is written: 
Ecce venio, ut faciam, Deus, wluntatem tuam. The Child Jesus says 
(Heb. 10:5-7): Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldest not: but a body 
Thou hast fitted to me. Behold, I bring thee my life, my blood as an 
oblation. I come to do Thy will, O God: to be obedient to Thee, oh 
Father! My whole life shall be fidelity to law and to duty in great and 
in small things, even unto Golgotha. This is the morning prayer of 
Christ — the great, good intention of Jesus on the morning of His life. 
At the head of the book of His life it is written: ut faciam, Deus, wlun- 
tatem tuam. (Heb. 10:7). But Mary also repeats, by the deed, her 
good intention: Ecce ancilla Domini. Candlemas-day is really a 
feast of good intentions which animate all things/bear all things, clarify 
and perfect all things. (Subjects of sermons.) 

Would it not be proper to preach occasionally, on this day, on morn- 
ing and evening prayer in the light of the Bible? The morning prayer 
of Jesus and Mary — the evening prayer of Simeon and Anna toward 
the end of their lives ? How easily might a grain of a good morning and 
evening prayer be inserted into this goldfield: the good intention and 
perfect contrition, with their effects and fruits for life? Thus practical 
themes and afterwards dispositions are produced. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 59 



Another View of the Liturgy 

The morning offering of Jesus is concealed under the cloud of His 
humble humanity. When resting on Simeon's arm the sun of His divin- 
ity breaks through the cloud of His humanity. It is another Epiphania 
Domini! Lumen ad revelationem gentium. A splendid tribute to this 
divine light is the candle-procession, which ought to be made as solemnly 
as possible, and should be explained to the people. In a solemn manner 
we part with burning lights from Jesus — the Christmas light — and 
take leave of Christmas. Are your Christmas resolutions and the 
results of your Christmas confessions and communions still burning 
lights? (Themes.) 

A Final View of the Candlemas Liturgy 

In a most unique and beautiful manner the Candlemas liturgy 
depicts our relation to Jesus and to Mary: The old liturgy conducts 
us through Mary to Jesus: Adorna thalamum tuum — prepare the 
bridal and festive chamber of your soul! How? 1. Suscipe Regem; 
receive Jesus — receive Him personally! His example; His grace; 
and swear fidelity to Him, to His law, and fidelity to your duty; and 
depart not even the breadth of a finger from the ways and the precepts 
of the King. How? 2. Amplectare Mariam — hasten to Mary, follow 
her: her example and intercession will draw you to Jesus, to fidelity to 
your duty toward Jesus. Amplectare Mariam, quae est coelestis porta 
. . . ipsa enim portat regem . . . adducens manibus filium. She with 
her saintly hands will guide Jesus to you, He who is pointed out by the 
morning star. If we penetrate thus into these texts of the procession, 
there will be but one homiletic difficulty: a superabundant homiletic 
treasury. 

Ask yourself furthermore: What application and practical 
fruit does the liturgy itself draw from this mystery? These fruits 
are often found in the Epistle, Gradual, Offertory. Compare, f. i., 
the first Sunday of Advent, Christmas, the first Sunday of Lent, 
Easter, and many feasts of the saints. What extraordinary and 
practical resolutions for Advent does the Epistle, f. i., of the first 
Sunday of Advent present? Henceforth, out of love to Jesus, no 
more mortal sin! Nox praecessit . . . abjiciamus opera tenebra- 
rum . . . above all, war against the three deadly foes of the soul: 
intemperance (non in conversationibus et ebrietatibus) , impurity (non 
in cubilibus et impudicitiis) , uncharitableness {non in contestatione 
et aemulatione) . A further continuation of these ideas requires 
living with Christ — Christ in the sacraments: grace of Christ 



6o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(induimini Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum). Next, labor with 
Christ — imitation of Christ — hora est de somno surgere : nox 
praecessit dies appropinquavit — sicut in die honeste ambulemus . . . 
induamur arma lucis! (The sacraments of Advent.) How prac- 
tically all this could be compressed into one theme: Our first 
thought of Advent, or: Our resolutions at the beginning of Advent; 
— or, our morning oblation at the beginning of the ecclesiastical 
year. This could be treated as a homily on the Epistle, as a selec- 
tion of themes of several of the above points with most striking 
applications. But the texts must be cited and energetically forced 
into the sermon and be translated into practical life. Compare the 
Epistles of other Sundays that are also distinguishing marks of the 
ecclesiastical year, f. i., Septuagesima, Quinquagesima, and Quadra- 
gesima. The present Epistle of the first Sunday of Advent occa- 
sioned the conversion of St. Augustin (see Confessions) : another 
theme: How a Saint was impressed by the Epistle of the day. 
(See the classical sermon of Bishop Sailer: What led Augustin 
away from God — and what brought him back to God?) The same 
may be said today of this text: Sermo Dei est vivus et efficax et 
penetrabilior omni gladio ancipite. (Heb. 4: 12.) Why do we not 
oftener take hold of the sword of the spirit? (See p. 176-189.) 

3. The connection of the various parts of the mass. Ask yourself: 
Does there exist among the various parts of the formulary of the 
mass concerted connection? Often the connection is merely 
general, f. i., faith (Gospel) — life (Epistle); deed (Gospel — fruit 
of this deed (Epistle). This is the case on many ordinary Sundays. 
But the following ways and questions may prove, in a particular 
manner, fruitful to the preacher. 

(a) Does there exist a remarkable connection between the 
Introit, Epistle, and the Gospel? f. i., of the first Sunday of Advent? 
Introit: Look up to God; Epistle — look into the heart; Gospel — 
look into the future, and this at the beginning of the ecclesiastical 
year. 

Follow such connections more particularly. At once you will find 
rich and energetic, practical themes. Or, convert each point into a 
theme, and thus you will survey at once most fruitful ways for many 
years to come. We shall simply make a few suggestions here. A 
connection of the formulary of the mass of the first Sunday of Advent. 

I. Look up to God. Prayer at the beginning of the ecclesiastical 
year: Prayer in general at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year; 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 61 



therefore, the first thing to do is to pray. The Introit describes also 
the meaning of prayer : ad Te levavi animam meam : To elevate the soul, 
the mind truly to God. To elevate the soul with confidence to God. 
We know not whether storms, temptations, sufferings, and misfortune 
are threatening for the ecclesiastical year. At all events, Satan and 
his imps will wage a battle within us and for the purpose of capturing us. 
But there is one who is stronger than all — God. I look not upon my 
demerits nor merits : in Te (Deus) confido; non erubescam : neque irridiant 
inimici mei; etenim omnes qui te expectant non confundantur. And now 
— Advent — is the real time of hope through prayer : Te Christe ex- 
pectamus. How easily the people may be taught prayer and hope, as 
the basis of these texts and by reason of the theology concerning hope 
(objectum et motivum spei immediatum est Deus, summum bonum nobis, 
qui potest et vult salvare et non ponentes obicem salvabit). 

(b) Prayer for selecting the right way at the beginning of the ecclesi- 
astical year: Vias tuas demonstra mihi, semitas tuas edoce me. (Ps. 
24, Introit.) This is a prayer for a selection of the right way at the 
beginning of the ecclesiastical year, a fervent and sincere prayer that 
we may never lose our way to God during the coming year. The Church 
teaches us, therefore, to pray first for our salvation against the enemies 
of our salvation, for the reformation of our predominant fault. Prayer 
for an amendment of life, for a reformation of character, is also the best 
preparation for Christmas. How practically this might be treated, 
according to good practical ascetic sources, for the people, who often 
pray merely for temporal benefits and overlook so readily that which is 
more necessary. (Excellent matter, f.i. in Bruecker-Lehen: A way 
to interior peace.) Vias may also mean the great commands — 
semitas the smaller precepts. See Luke 1:1. In omnibus mandatis 
et justificationibus . Therefore, prayer for fidelity in great and small 
things is recommended. This solitary Introit, considered in the light of 
the ecclesiastical time and combined with the doctrine and the ascetics 
of prayer, indicates practical ways for many appropriate sermons for the 
first Sunday of Advent. But these splendid texts must not be used for 
a long-winded introduction, nor be merely hurriedly quoted — in order 
to pass then through all kinds of switches onto the track of some old worn- 
out sermon on prayer. This Introit teaches us to preach on this day in 
a most unique manner on prayer, in the spirit of Advent and of the begin- 
ning of the ecclesiastical year. It might also serve the purpose of re- 
animating and transforming a sermon on prayer already well prepared. 
Then, of course, its thoughts should not be made mere outward orna- 
mentations: they belong to the corpus articuli, to the sermon itself 
(See p. 188). Such texts of the Introit often afford rich matter for 
prominent Sundays and feast-days, for very short early or late sermons 



62 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



whenever a cycle of themes is not preferred for this purpose, but even 
then it would be proper to interrupt such a cycle on choice days of the 
ecclesiastical year, and, in connection with such texts, to introduce 
briefly and practically the spirit of the ecclesiastical season. 

II. An insight into our own hearts. The Epistle, Rom. 13, leads to 
an insight into our own hearts at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. 
It touches once more of itself, a practical theme, which we have already 
sketched above under B (p. 59). It also contains excellent material for 
a sermon on the Advent-confession and the examination of conscience 
(pp. 59, 183, 188). 

III. A look into the future. The Gospel opens a view into the 
future. We should prepare ourselves by a look up to God and an inspec- 
tion of ourselves for the coming of the Child-Redeemer. If this be 
not done, we shall fall into the hands of the judge. This Child will 
come again — as judge. The view of the second coming of Christ as 
judge is very fruitful — in matter taken from the Gospel — for a homily, 
a sermon or a point of a sermon. Now Christ, as a Child, knocks at the 
door softly and gently: ecce sto ad ostium et pulso: Excita quaesimus, 
Domine, tuam potentiam et veni — Suscipiamus misericordiam tuam in 
medio templi tui — vias tuas demonstra mihi! (Compare these thoughts 
of the orations.) Some day He will rap terribly and forcibly at the 
portals of the universe, so that it will be lifted from off its base: ecce 
sto ad ostium . . . et erunt signa in sole et luna et in stellis et in terra 
pressura gentium . . . ! The look into the future is a terribly serious 
one! We see the judge . . . tunc parebit signum filii hominis! Therefore 
we should start now — this very day — in this time of Advent to meet 
our Redeemer. The practical road hereof by prayer, amendment of life, 
and sacramental renovation of life, was shown us in the consideration of 
the Introit and the Epistle of the mass. 

All these three points may be combined into one single independent 
sermon, by explaining successfully the main points of the texts with a 
few energetic, practical applications; f.i.: Look up to God (as the Church 
does in the Introit of the mass) and pray for proper direction: Look into 
yourself (as the Church does in the Epistle), and institute with the preacher, 
first : an examination of Conscience, and then, with God alone, in your next 
{Advent) confession. Look hurriedly into the future: Behold (with the 
Church in the Gospel) the judge; listen — how he raps at the universe 
and the consciences of men; this will force you to look up once more: 
vias tuas demonstra mihi — and to look inwardly: abjiciamus opera tene- 
brarum. The third point should not be protracted by a long description 
of the judgment; it should merely confirm points I and II in a passing 
picture, complete the climax, and combine into one central application 
the resolutions of I and II. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 63 



Is there a fruitful connection between the Gospel and, at least 
some leading thought of the Epistle? This might be even mani- 
fold, as f. i., on the Second Sunday of Lent: — Gospel: The trans- 
figuration. Epistle: I. Thess. c. 4: your own transfiguration by a 
renewal of life during this time of Lent. The Epistle mentions 
several entirely concrete points of selection for the preacher. We 
will give a few sketches bearing on this point. 

The transfiguration of Christ — the lawgiver (Gospel) and our own 
transfiguration through obedience to the law (Epistle): scitis quae 
praecepta dederim vobis per Christum Jesum (I Thess. c. 4). Our trans- 
figuration before God follows a fruitful obedience to the laws of Christ 
and of the Church: accepistis a nobis quomodo oporteat ambulare et 
placere Deo. Or: Christ is lawgiver, (God — King — Lord of the Old 
(Moses — Elias) and of the New Testament: (Peter — James — John) : 
ipsum audite. 

The Christians are, therefore, subjects: illustrate some particular 
divine or ecclesiastical law by practical examples of life, in the light of 
the above texts. Or: The transfiguration of Christ (depict the glory 
of God). Our transfiguration by grace (the divine likeness). Haec est 
voluntas Dei-sanctificatio vestra. The grace of Christ makes us holy. 
Illustrations of sanctifying grace with applications: never to lose grace 
— to secure it constantly through paschal communion and supernat- 
ural, perfect contrition. Or: Christ's transfiguration. Our own trans- 
figuration through purity: haec est sanctificatio vestra ut abstineatis a 
fornicatione (Epistle). 

In all this work you must not — 
(a) be artificial, nor 
(j6) superficial. 

4. Connection of the various parts of the mass with the entire 
office. On certain Sundays and feast-days astonishingly practical 
material for sermons may be obtained through a comparison of 
the missal and the breviary, and also suggestions for the dispo- 
sition of points and parts of sermons; compare, f. i., the Christmas 
office, the third Sunday of Lent. In the treatises on liturgy, as 
a source of sermons, we will show this connection in relation to 
the homiletic sketching of the ecclesiastical year. 

5. Connection of the several formularies of the masses of an entire 
ecclesiastical season or of a series of Sundays. In connection with 
these studies astonishingly practical and effective cycles of sermons 
could be easily arranged. The homiletic sketching of the ecclesias- 



64 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



tical year will also show this connection. (See f. i., p. 200, 506, 564, 

sqq.) 

6. Connection of the liturgical formularies with dogma, precept, res- 
olutions, Christian life, popular life, requirements of the age. If a view 
of the liturgy be compared with a view of science and of the entire 
life of man, the selections of a practical theme will often become 
very easy. Compare, f. i., the articles of the Summa of St. Thomas 
de tentatione Christi, de transfiguratione, de resurrectione, de ascensione 
Christi with the liturgical formularies of the first and the second 
Sundays of Lent, of the feast of the transfiguration of Christ, with 
the Holy Saturday and Easter liturgy, with the liturgy of the 
Ascension, and you will strike streams of living waters gushing 
forth from the rocks. 

7. Explanation of ceremonies. The liturgical ceremonies often 
afford rich occasions for a practical selection, especially: 

(a) The ceremonies of the mass. (Compare, in the Catechetical 
Studies: Devotion at mass, p. 787, 812, 567.) 

(b) The ceremonies on great feast-days, f. i., of Holy Week. 
(See below — their homiletic sketching, in the chapter on — Sources 
of sacred eloquence.) 

(c) The ceremonies of the sacraments. (See, f . i. — The ceremo- 
nies of Baptism.) (d) Ceremonies of the more frequent ecclesiastical 
functions, f . L, at funerals, certain consecrations, and blessings. The 
gratitude with which the people receive such themes is often astonish- 
ing. Matter for this is found in Amberger, Dippel, Thalhofer, 
Rippel: Beauties of the Catholic Church, Gueranger, Staudenmaier, 
Hettinger's Aphorisms, p. 278 sqq., Kellner's Heortology, occasion- 
ally in Grisar: History of Rome and the Popes, in ecclesiastical en- 
cyclopedias, and also in the more recent pastoral theologies. 

8. Connection between the liturgy and the person and life of 
Christ. All of the above mentioned rays and ways of liturgy ought 
concentrate into this one center: praedicamus vobis Jesum — non 
enim judicavi me scire aliquid inter vos nisi Jesum — Jesus heri 
et hodie et in saecula benedictus. Next to Holy Scripture there is 
no better school for successful sermons on Christ than the liturgy. 
Liturgy is mainly the living and dramatic presentation of Holy 
Scripture, the renewed life of Christ. 

See below: Sources of preaching: I. Holy Scripture. Prag- 
matics of Holy Scripture, n. 20, n. 21 sqq. and: Contents of the 
sermon: Sermon on Christ Jesus. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 65 



in. POINT. — THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE SELECTION 

OF A SUBJECT 

A third guide to the selection of a practical theme for a sermon 
is a view into the religious requirements and the needs of the people 
of the various congregations and classes of hearers. The school, the 
confessional, sick-calls, useful intermingling with the people, will 
disclose to the vigilant pastor these needs and requirements. A 
selfish seclusion from the people, a pessimistic disposition toward 
the people without any restraint, tend to conceal these views. A too 
familiar mixing by no means sharpens this view, but rather dulls 
the spirit and makes it unfruitful and robs the preacher of that 
respect which the people should cherish for him. But pastoral 
visits to the homes and families are most excellent means. A properly 
ordered pastoral visit, in any form, is especially of great pastoral 
influence. With this may also be classed personal intercourse and 
personal pedagogics of directors of societies with their members. Sup- 
ported by all such experiences one should ask himself: What are 
the needs of this congregation at this time and under the present 
conditions? 

Hitherto we have considered (in art. II) the practical selection 
of subjects and the way thereto through science, liturgy, and the 
circumstances of the people. We will now pay our attention to 
the practical determination of the aim of the sermon. 

Article III. The Practical Determination of the Aim 

Above we have laid particular stress upon the importance of 
the exact determination of the aim of a sermon. 

It does not suffice to select a practical subject: the subject 
must be animated by special living thoughts of purpose. 

Finis anima operis. The aim is the soul of all action. He who 
would act successfully upon others must direct, with double force, 
his action toward a determined aim. 

The aim does not always follow from the selected subject itself, 
even though the latter be thoroughly practical. Many a subject is by 
nature a thesis infinita. A sharply fixed aim forces a selection from 
the richness, or forms even a very rich theme, practical from all sides. 
One and the same theme may admit of various purposes. Thus, 
f.i., a sermon on Good-Friday may have for its aim: To place 
the Passion of Christ, in all its details, very lively before the souls 



66 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of the people, as the Apostle testifies of his sermons: " before whose 
eyes Jesus Christ hath been set forth, crucified among you." (Gal. 
3: 1) or the purpose: To lead to the abhorrence of mortal sin — 
or the aim to move to perfect contrition, just now — during the 
sermon, possibly in connection with the last hours of Christ on the 
cross, or with an entire view of Christ's Passion, possibly with a 
practical exegesis of the "Ecce lignum cruris" and of the Improperia 
of the liturgy. Furthermore, a sermon on the Passion of Christ 
might have for its object a direct presentation of the article of 
faith of the Passion of Christ or Christ's satisfaction, or the 
explanation of the Passion through the liturgy of Good-Friday, etc. 

The preacher should therefore determine his aim, before putting 
the finishing touches to his sermon, and throughout the whole 
work and its delivery remain conscious of the idea of his aim. 

The omission or mere superficial handling of the determination 
of the aim robs the sermon of the life which alone produces an 
effect. If, in view of the fulness of the truths, the ideas and appli- 
cations, which most of the themes contain, the preacher does not 
determine a special object in preaching, then the result will be, 
not a sermon, but mere empty talk and the priest will exhaust him- 
self in a very short time. As little as an advocate in court may lose 
sight of his aim for a single moment in his address, so little may the 
preacher, in the elaboration and delivery of his sermon, forget the 
objective thought thereof. 

The whole sermon is, in view of its special purpose, simply the 
means to the end. In a great measure the value of every sermon 
which is to be studied or read, must be judged by its special aim, 
contained in the wider or closer relation of all its thoughts and 
feelings. The determination of the aim is, therefore, a principal 
part of the entire homiletic activity. Every sermon is a battle 
and a victory. Therefore in every sermon the question should 
be carefully weighed, through serious study, through prayer, and 
with a due regard to the people: What practical results do I 
wish to attain in the people, with the grace of God, through this 
sermon? 

A wise guide upon these very important ways in the determina- 
tion of the aim is, again, the liturgy. 

The liturgy is really filled with practical thoughts of purposes, both 
concealed and open. As we have already remarked, the idea of a pur- 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 67 



pose flashes, like an electric force, through all the parts of a genuine 
sermon. It carries the fixed aim not only upon its brow: but aim and 
purpose illuminate and act mightily, though not with a burdensome 
imposition, through every word. Since, however, liturgy in itself has 
a marked homiletic side, it, too, is borne and penetrated by a living idea 
of purpose. Therefore, ask yourself: What is the object which the 
Church desires to attain by the Gospel of this day? How can I interpret 
her intention for the benefit of my congregation? If something of a 
somewhat serious character is to be said, or something striking, then one 
should ask: Is there not a similar objective thought in the Gospel or 
some other part of the liturgy of the day? To this may be added that 
the most pointed truth is better received in a frame of the Gospel or 
of the liturgy, in fact, in the light of the objective thought contained 
therein. Of this a few examples: 

1. First Sunday of Advent. Introit and Gradual, also partly the 
Epistle, urge mightily to prayer. The intention of prayer pulsates 
through the whole office. Point out to the people, therefore, the spirit 
of prayer at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, prayer for the com- 
ing Redeemer, prayer for the coming salvation, as the ecclesiastical 
objective thought in its liveliest and most pointed application. Put 
this aim of life, which is so often forgotten, once more in the most 
conspicuous foreground. (See above p. 62.) 

2. Second Sunday of Advent. In the Gospel there are especially 
two intentions : 

(a) The one is the longing, the craving for the Redeemer. Therefore, 
a complete picture of the coming Redeemer is shown, of the 
Redeemer in our need, in a word: Christ and our condition of 
need (caeci vident, etc.). All this may also be understood in a 
spiritual sense. There are the spiritually blind, the spiritually 
lame, who live unto the day, the spiritually deaf who fail to hear 
sermons, who refuse to bow to the word of a priest, or of a parent. 
There are those who are spiritually dead — mortal sinners ! Hora 
est de somno surgere! The great intention is: to awaken in us a 
thought of the need of a redemption. To make us "poor in spirit," 
who need and wish for a Redeemer, who really have a longing for 
the Advent: adveniat regnum tuuml Compare herewith what 
is said below, in the chapter on the contents of the principal 
theme: The sermon on Christ Jesus, with a view of sketching 
Christ and the condition of our actual needs. What a pointed, 
general, and particular determination of purpose a preacher 
might obtain from the thought of the liturgy of the second Sunday 
of Advent: the need of a redemption and of a Redeemer — Jesus, 
and our misery — if he were to consider the missal and the brev- 



68 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



iary practically from this view, and then, with the eyes wide open, 
looked into the modern practical life of a priest. 
(b) Furthermore, there is this intention in the gospel: to prepare 
for a Redeemer according to the example of St. John. The in- 
tention shows itself in a concrete form under the following view: 
a Non arundo vento agitata. The Saviour does not desire men 
who change their opinions every day, who are moved by every 
wind of doctrine, by every infidel sheet, by every mock-speech 
that is uttered in questionable localities. The crime of the age is 
human fear, a veritable swamp of reeds. How easily striking 
truths, in connection with the liturgy, might be here interwoven 
as an appeal to the Christian sense, in a very quiet conversational 
tone. 

fi. Non qui mollibus vestiunturf The Saviour does not want 
effeminate men. 

aa. Not men who seek their own comfort, but men with a 

sense of duty, as was St. John. 
bb. Not men controlled by passions, but men of reason, con- 
trolled by common sense and by faith. See Gen. 4, 7 : sub te 
erit appetitus (peccati)\ 
3. Third Sunday of Advent. The main idea of the liturgy is joy 
in consequence of the coming of the Saviour; animation for the Saviour. 
Introit and Epistle: Gaudete in Domino; et iterum dico: gaudete! (Com- 
pare the playing of the organ, a more solemn liturgy.) The Church 
wishes to point out to us the following intentions, all of which, however, 
coalesce into the one already-mentioned: Joy in Christ: Dominus 
enim prope est! 

(a) Joy in the Saviour. There is no greater joy than that which 
Jesus secures for us. Consider the Bible, the joy of the patriarchs, 
the prophets, of David, Isaias, Zachary: Christus venturus! next 
the joy of a Magdalen, of a John, a Peter after his conversion, 
etc. 

(b) Joy in the religion of Jesus. The Saviour is nigh to us in His 
doctrines, in His precepts, and in His sacraments. Faith itself is 
a joyous exposition of that which is highest and the greatest that 
exists, a placing before our eyes of the whole of heaven and the road 
that leads to it (fides sperandarum rerum substantia} . The pre- 
cepts of Christ are not merely a burden, but also a pleasure and a 
joy: they are truly benefits. Self-control in the service of the 
commandments makes one strong, and this again is a joy. Con- 
fession makes us children of God, perfect men and perfect Chris- 
tians; it brings an entire heaven of joy into the soul. Is a quiet 
conscience not a source of joy? Does not every Sunday sermon 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 69 



console? Does it not give courage and joy for the entire week 
and consolation in all our sorrows? Temperance and measure 
in all things create joy. Purity influences the entire man and 
makes him contented. (Cf. Epistle: modestia vestra nota sit 
omnibus hominibus.) The liturgy, therefore, brings home to the 
mind of the preacher the objective thought of joy — of religion, 
as the first true source of joy in God. Compare herewith a bibli- 
cal concordance on the word gaudeo, laetor, gaudium, laetitia, and 
similar ones. 

(c) Joy, on the feast of Jesus: Joy of Advent, of Christmas. The 
ecclesiastical seasons should not be permitted to pass away from 
the children of the Church without having made a deep impression. 
Prepare for them a Christmas joy, but always in the light of 
religion. Do not spoil, in the eyes of God, the joys of Christmas 
by presenting bad or doubtful books or other dangerous presents. 
A further intention is announced by the Epistle and Gospel and the 
Introit: The cultivation of humility. The Epistle commends temper- 
ance — modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. Temperance is the 
opposite of gluttony. Always remain within proper bounds: the young 
man within the limits of obedience, the adult within the doctrines of the 
Almighty: Remember that you are not permitted to choose the road of 
religion: God has shown that. There is likewise temperance in relation 
to your neighbor, called justice; there is a limit which declares: the 
other man has also a right, even though he be in rags, etc.: humility in 
regard to others. In the Gospel the same intention prevails: John 
designates his vocation in the humblest words he can find : vox clamantis 
in deserto; his person — in the lowliest expression : I am not worthy to 
loose the latchet of his shoe. He practises humility on all occasions: 
the sanhedrin pays him attention, the proconsul sends an embassy to 
ask: Art thou the Christ or the Prophet? He remains humble. St. 
Bernard says: Humilitas est virtus, qua quis verissima sui cognitione sibi 
ipsivilescit. Humility is truth; ask the question: What am I? What 
am I in the sight of God ? What would I be without God ? What is 
my person, my position, the work of my vocation without God? Die 
today — and the world will pursue its even course without you. You 
probably have much to do, you have accomplished much — die, and 
still the world will go on! Humility tells the truth about ourselves. 
Humility, therefore, thinks little of itself — a mere worm, a nothing: 
therefore, my glory is nothing. Thus one should strive to interpret 
the intention of the liturgy during silent moments. After such a medi- 
tation proceed to the practical selection of themes or to their completion. 
The intentions often direct the entire selection of material or re-animate the 
matter already selected with new life. Do not, therefore, despise these 



7o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



simple exercises even before the arrangement of the matter which we 
have just indicated. 

4. The fourth Sunday of Advent. One intention is: True penance 
as a preparation for Christmas. The penitential intention flares through 
the liturgy like flames of fire. 

1. On the part of God: poenitentia in remissionem peccatorum — 
thus preaches John in the Gospel, therefore: the Infant Jesus is 
coming — therefore Advent — in order that we may do penance. 

Therefore, in these last days, strive again to obtain forgiveness of sins. 
Emphasize prayer for contrition, for a good Advent, and a Christmas- 
confession. (Explain, among the intentions of the liturgy, absolution: 
God can grant it, God wills it — but not without you.) 

2. On your part: 

(a) Rectas facile semitas ejus. Penance consists in straightening the 
way, in turning from the way of the flesh. This is done especially 
by examination of conscience for confession. Ask yourself, during 
Advent, the question: Is my way straight? 

How easily, guided by this intention f.i., and in union with the 
Gospel — might a practical sermon be preached, and this every 
evening, on the examination of conscience for confession, f.i. on: 
rectas facite semitas: Make straight the way to God. This is 
pointed out to us by the commandments of God. I will 
show this today simply in connection with the three first 
commandments: God and your thoughts (first commandment 
— Do you believe? How do you pray?). God and your speech 
(second commandment — How do you speak of God : how do you 
speak of God in your home, in your workshop?). God and the 
week (third commandment : How do you and your family observe 
the Sunday? What does the rest on Sunday mean? the rest from 
labor — rest in God during mass — during the parochial service 
and sermon? Merely short, pithy expositions to arouse the con- 
science). Prayer to God, the proper speech concerning God, the 
observance of the day of the Lord — these are the means to make 
straight the way of the Lord — a way — a straight way to God, 
to the Saviour, and to make it at Christmas- time. 

(b) Omnis vallis implebitur, omnis mons et collis humiliabitur. This 
is done by contrition. Through contrition mountains are removed. 
The human mountain of pride sinks into dust at the sight of God, 
of the Saviour, of the supreme good, of Him who is most worthy 
of our love. Attrition with confession, and perfect contrition 
without confession, but with a purpose of confessing, fill valleys 
and precipices of sin, of the abandonment of God, through grace, 
through sanctifying grace. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 71 



(c) Et erimt prava in directa et aspera in vias planas: Good resolutions: 
From out of the false ways of mortal sin there arises the straight 
way to God : instead of the uneven and rugged path of the many 
venial sins springs up a good road. These resolutions of con- 
fession, in general and in particular, should be your Christmas- 
gift to the infant Jesus. The resolution is not merely a ceremony, 
but it is an act of the will, a veritable work of character: a real 
road-builder for God and toward God. 
Such simple exercises seek to find a way through the thoughts of the 
aim and end of the liturgy, into practical life; they illumine material for 
a sermon, and give it a living soul. We have purposely selected, in the 
above examples, entirely simple things in order to disclose the facility 
of the subject. In such explanations it is permissible to use, occasion- 
ally, besides the literal sense, also the sensus communis cum fundamento 
in re. If, f.i., the Holy Scripture and the liturgy depict penance in an 
elaborate manner, then it is perfectly within the scope of the author of 
Holy Scripture and of the creatrix of the liturgy, to apply all practically 
to the forthcoming penance — to the sacrament and to perfect contri- 
tion accompanied by the desire of receiving the sacrament of penance. 
For this purpose the words of the Bible supply new forms, new golden vessels 
of the oft-repeated doctrine of the sacrament of penance and of contrition. 
The doctrine need not always run in the old ruts, but should open new 
view- points, new ideas and applications. Thus, the intention of the 
fourth Advent Sunday, just explained, might induce a pastor to preach 
on this Sunday, during one year, on the examination of conscience, in 
connection with confession, and in the evening, as the best way for a 
preparation of Christmas — and this could be done in a most varied 
manner. In some other year the same intention might possibly induce 
him to speak on contrition in relation to confession and on perfect con- 
trition in the evenings — again another year : on the resolutions and firm 
purposes of amendment in connection with confession, every evening 
and possibly at mass — again, on all this once more from a general view. 
But this ought to be done by the preacher, in the form of an exegesis, on 
the text: Rectas facite semitas ejus . . . etc., which should permeate the 
entire sermon. If the preacher should recite such texts only at the 
introduction as a switch for some old sermon on the examination of con- 
science, then the whole would lose its valuable and fruitful character of 
Advent : the intended exercises and acts would appear to little advantage 
as exercises and acts of Advent. On this account do we emphasize so 
much the study of the liturgy and its scope, because it is so well adapted 
to make the preacher be that which the Lord says of him: proferens de 
thesauro suo nova et veteral 



72 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



There still remains the duty of speaking on the practical com- 
pletion of the sermon. 

Article IV. The Practical Completion or the Sermon 

We will give a few rules and directions in regard to the prac- 
tical completion of the practically selected theme, in the light of 
a fixed, practical purpose. ( See p. 51, 52.) 

All directions in regard to the practical completion of a sermon 
may be reduced to one principle: bring the sermon within a practical, 
universal relation to the human, supernatural, Christian life. The 
sermon should not present revealed doctrine for itself, but for the 
sake of life, i.e., for the religious, supernatural life of the people. 
We will again treat of the evangelical fundamental law: ut vitam 
habeant et abundantius habeant. 

In the spirit of this principle we will give the following special 
directions : 

(a) The preacher should make the applications, exercises, and 
resolutions which act upon the life, as concrete as possible. A 
preacher who leaves it to his hearers to apply to themselves the 
substance of his discourse leaves to them the most important part 
of his task. 1 The preacher must propose the exercises, and their 
application, in such a manner that the hearer can transpose them 
directly, just as he heard them, into practical life. The people 
should be encouraged — possibly in a sermon at the end of the 
time for their pascal confession or after some general confession- 
day — to renew, during the holy offering of the mass of this Sunday 
or at each mass until Pentecost, the resolutions made at con- 
fession, or the people should be earnestly exhorted, which should 
be successfully confirmed by reasons based on the salvation of 
souls, to make an act of perfect contrition every evening, and 
occasionally at the beginning of the holy sacrifice of the mass. 
During a sermon on education it might be well to enter into details 
so that fathers and mothers might put their resolutions almost 
daily into practise. (See excellent directions for this in Alban 
Stolz, ' 1 Erziehungskunst . ") 

St. Alphonse of Liguori says in one of his letters, rather reproach- 
fully: "I know it very well: our prominent preachers do not like 
to speak of all these things (prayer, instruction on confession, 

1 Gisbert, Eloq. chret. c. 14, n. 14. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 73 



amendment of life, the hearing of mass, the ways and means to 
resist temptation). They find these things too elementary, too 
common. . . . But St. Francis of Sales, who converted ever so 
many souls, was accustomed to preach precisely in this manner; 
and, as often as an occasion presented itself, he recommended to 
his hearers some tried means of religious life. 

This advice may also be applied in the composition of sermons 
for feast-days: for on these the great masses of the people are 
assembled, even those who seldom attend sermons are then present. 
Therefore, it is well to descend often from high and festive thoughts 
of faith and mysteries of the feasts, which ought ordinarily domi- 
nate the sermon on such occasions, to entirely simple and direct 
applications, in a quiet and earnest tone, appropriate to the range 
of the hearers: like the eagle, which alights from the pure heights 
very suddenly and securely upon its prey. Precisely on such 
back-grounds are practical resolutions well received, better, possibly, 
than ever. We beg leave to furnish an entirely concrete and finished 
example, as an attempt to illustrate more fully the established law. 

To give an example: Why should one not descend, very simply and 
artlessly, to the doctrine of good intention in an occasional sermon, f.i., 
of a Swiss celebration of some battle, or on a day of a confederation of 
prayer, on which one could naturally and historically develop God's 
idea of love of country? We may fancy, f.i., an exegetically treated 
sermon on God in nature, i.e., on a previously worked-out popularized 
proof of God, which might voice in itself the following thought that 
would penetrate into the very midst of modern life : — 

God is in your midst: the thought of God looms up, and speaks and 
is thundered and voiced through our whole country: Unus est Altissimus 
Creator omnipotens. (Eccl. 7:8.) One is supreme, Almighty, the Cre- 
ator. We Swiss have a double, a triple reason and duty to esteem the 
thought of God most highly. What is our most beautiful land in the 
very heart of Europe ? A picture-book of God — open to all nations. 
Every city, every country is proud if it can say: within my museums I 
shelter a Raphael, a Murillo, an Albrecht Duerer — works of art of the 
first class. How men rejoice if they are able to say: This poet, this 
artist, this hero, lived amongst us; amongst us he created his highest, 
his greatest works. Like a jewel in a golden setting is the memory of 
such men honored in their country. How dear to you are today the 
victors in the battles for our liberty? The very thought of them today 
pulsates vividly through your hearts. But into your very midst the 
Almighty has placed His masterpieces — the grand dome of the Alps, the 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



beauty and the fertility of the landscape. Therefore, all honor to this 
eternal Artist — the source of all beauty. Swiss fellow-citizens and 
confederates! see to it that the reproach of the Baptist may never 
apply to our people: Medius vestrum stetit, quern vos nescitis. He stands 
in the midst of you, and you know Him not. (John 26.) He stands in 
the midst of you, the glorious, the Almighty, the personal God, and yet 
you know Him not! Aye, brethren: may the thought of God, pro- 
claimed so forcibly to us by our country, vibrate through every fiber of 
our being. A friend related to me some time ago how he had climbed, 
early in the morning, the peak of Monte Rosa, the highest mountain 
in Switzerland. There he beheld the morning sun tearing apart a volume 
of clouds. At his feet lay the dear land of the Swiss. From the high- 
altar of the country the eye rested downward even over the highest 
glaciers and the gigantic chains of mountain ranges. Then, as the sun's 
rays penetrated the valleys and the gaps, and an inexpressible glory 
unfolded itself — there — so he declared — the thought of God took 
possession of me. I could not do otherwise: I sank upon my knees — 
and prayed. But my guide, a weather-beaten man, laughed pleasantly 
when I arose: "You are not the first one," he said, "who prayed here 
above. Men that were hardened I saw pray here with many a tear in 
their eyes, which, perhaps, had long ago forgotten to weep!" 

Alban Stolz once said: There is nothing on earth more beautiful 
than a man in prayer. And this is true. But to this — to prayer — 
the thought of God urges in all forms. Yes, the entire Switzerland, 
from the high altar of Monte Rosa to the cliff upon which we stand, 
cries out to us: Orate, fr aires ! Pray, brethren! What does man do when 
he prays? Conscious of his power, with a bright eye and a joyful heart 
he acknowledges: Every fiber in me is God's property. Every pulsa- 
tion of my heart is His gift. My whole being cries to God my Lord. 
How beautiful if man — a workman with a callous hand, says with 
David every morning at dawn: Deus, Dens, metis ad te de luce vigilo: 0 
God, my God, to Thee do I watch at break of day. (Ps. 62 : 1.) Eructavit 
cor meum verbum bonum: ego dico opera mea regi. (Ps. 44: 1.) My heart 
hath uttered a good word : I speak my words to the King — who is God 
— also of our Republic. Is it not something marvelous, something 
grand, when through our wires, secret and concealed, the electric power 
flows : now it moves a machine — then some gigantic plant — now it 
creates motion, then heat, then light in darkness: here it illumines a 
brilliant palace, there, in a simple factory-hall, it aids practical and 
honorable labor. Yet, it is a power of untold form. Such a power, 
brethren, but of a higher spiritual kind, is the idea of God — prayer to 
God — the good intention of prayer, which buds forth from the idea of 
God, which dedicates to the supreme King the entire work of the day. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 75 



The priest often repeats at the altar the great words: per omnia saecula 
saeculorum — in all eternity. But even the street-cleaner, the humblest 
woman working in a dark factory-hall, the herdsman high up on 
the Alps, even they can say: per omnia saecula saeculorum. I work 
for eternity. Even my daily labor is a work for God's honor: ego dico 
opera mea regi: my work for the King. Brethren, daily renew this 
good intention. 

Happy the country in which the thought of God thus glorifies the 
morning of the work of the statesman, of the physician, of the merchant, 
of the laborer, of the mother, and of the maid — as does the morning 
dawn the glacier of the Alps. Happy the people within which, like an 
electric wave, this glorious intention flows. Let us give glory to 
God, let us dedicate the work of each day to God — our King. 1 

(b) The preacher should not exaggerate in his applications and 
advices. He must guard against a senseless custom of so many 
who can scarcely utter an ethical precept without aiming too high. 
Alban Stolz remarks on this point: Do not direct the stream of 
water to the highest point of the flame; do not use cannons to 
shoot sparrows. Here a deeper study of the ideal moral theology 
and of casuistic s will find a golden medium. 

(c) The preacher should make use of practical applications through- 
out the entire sermon. It is an error, that grew out of a strait-laced 
treatment, that doctrine must fill the first part and useful appli- 
cation the second part of a sermon It may be occasionally 
practical, but it is not to be recommended, that the preacher, after 
having preached for thirty minutes, should finally remember and 
express in a school-boy fashion that: " Now I come to a practical 
application." Such mechanical teaching is death to a sermon. 
Applications should be introduced wherever matter and purpose de- 
mand. Again, the sermon should not be overstocked with such 
applications. It is, f.i., very inapt to weave into a dogmatic proof 
all kinds of applications, since hereby the clearness of the proof is 
clouded. The application in an exegetical homily may often be 
very short: at the end of the homily, often even at the end of a 
paragraph of the homily, all things should flow and flood toward an 
impressive central application — upon which the entire homily was 
based. In spite of the above expressed censure of a mechanical 
method, there are themes that may be divided into a more doc- 
trinal and a more practical part. Compare, f.i., some of the 

1 The thought of God in our fatherland: Sermon by A. M. Glarus. 



76 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Pauline letters, possibly with the aid of the excellent illustrations 
by Kaulen, in his Introduction into the New Testament. Here 
also the word of Holy Writ may be applied: The letter killeth, 
but it is the spirit that giveth life. (II Cor. 3 : 6.) 

(d) The preacher should repeat, but always in a new form, the 
same important practical applications: Here, too, he should be, 
according to the word of Christ, the pater familias qui profert de 
thesauro suo nova et Vetera. 

(e) The preacher should intersperse between his applications 
ethical illustrations, i.e., suitable views of human actions and life, 
such as are found among the people, with a tactful use of those 
circumstances and sketches which sharply and truly depict human 
characters and hearts. Compare herewith the ethical pictures 
given by our Saviour of the hypocrites, (Matt. 23: 13); of the un- 
feeling and the hard-hearted rich mentioned in the parable of the 
rich glutton and poor Lazarus (Luke 16: 19 sqq). Mark the 
accidentals, f.i., the excellently sketched "licking dogs," etc. 
Models of ethical pictures may be found in Chrysostom, Augustin, 
Berthold of Ratisbonne, Bourdaloue, Massillon, Francis de Sales, 
Segneri, Sailer, Kolmar, Foerster, Ketteler, P. Abel, Alban Stolz. 
The ethical picture should not be far-fetched nor too stiff and 
never exaggerated, so that no one might say : It does not apply to 
me. Neither should it be too long-winded, so that it would con- 
sume an entire part or nearly the whole of a sermon. It should be 
a means to the end, and not the end itself. The speaker should 
not become infatuated by his own pictures. (See Schleiniger: A 
Model Preacher, p. 76, 139.) 

Article V. The Practical Knowledge or People 
and of Men 

Whatever has been said about the ways that lead to a practical 
sermon, therefore, of the practical selection of a theme, of the 
practical determination of the aim and its practical execution, all 
this rests on the background of genuine human knowledge. The 
preacher ought to have learned human life, the life of the people, and, 
above all, the human heart in its vital relation to Christ in the 
Church. This knowledge the preacher acquires through proper 
intercourse with the people, with the families, through the pastoral 
care of the sick, through the pastoral direction of societies, through 
work in the pastoral care of children, through a thousand strings 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



which bind him to the life of the people, in the confessional, which 
is a veritable school for the preacher, and through the study of his 
own heart: since personal ascetics are also a high-school for prac- 
tical sermons. A prudent regard to the dangers and the seductions 
of popular life and the cultured of our days, attention to the litera- 
ture and the colportage of books, to attacks made in newspapers 
and public opinion, are additional aids. Intelligent traveling and, 
especially, the familiar intercourse with practical pastors, all these 
furnish the preacher new means to acquire knowledge of the world 
and of men. Every priest of God, who possesses knowledge of the 
world and of men, in the true sense of the word, will have com- 
passion for the people, will discover and fully perceive their disad- 
vantages and their failings. Such a one will not condemn, like the 
one-sided pessimist, popular life without due consideration, nor 
unreasonably without a prudent discrimination, which is becoming 
a true pastor. 

We desire to refer here to the reading of the works of good pop- 
ular writers, from whom much might be learned for an acquisition 
of knowledge of the world and of men. 

We have now given a general description of our homiletic view 
of a practical sermon, which ought effect practical supernatural life 
and the progress of this life, and a particular one, regarding the 
selection of a subject and the determination of a purpose and of 
the carrying out of the same. We will now consider the second 
principal law. 

CHAPTER II 

THE POPULAR SERMON 1 

A. A sermon should benefit the Christian people; therefore it 
should be comprehensible, aye, very easily understood by the 
people. The preacher, on rarer occasions, addresses also exclu- 
sively special societies and classes: these alone should then be con- 
sidered. Generally he preaches to the whole parish. It is highly 
important that, in view of a very mixed audience, certain momentous 
points of a sermon be better adapted for one class of hearers, 
other points for others. Thus preachers of a large city or of some 
larger industrial place, or of great centers of workingmen, should 

1 Literature: Alban Stolz, Homiletik, etc., p. 181, 202, sqq. Dr. Jungmann, 
Theorie, I. Bd., p. 154 sqq. Schleiniger, Predigtamt, n. 138 sqq. 



78 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



pay special attention to the cultured circles, or to those strata of 
people who aim at culture. The preacher should have a vital inter- 
course with all classes of hearers. All things must spring from life 
into life. Therefore, precisely, is the slavish copying of models a 
deathblow to the heart of popularity. The one and the same sermon 
may and even should contain within itself trains of thoughts adapted 
to the common people, and particular expositions for the cultured. 

But the fundamental tone of the sermon, the sermon as such, must 
be designed for the people, for the generality of the Christian congre- 
gation. Even the cidtured themselves, generally speaking, show full 
interest in noble popularity. 

These thoughts lead us naturally to the idea and the definition 
of popularity. A sermon is popular when it is comprehensible to 
the generality of the people; easily understood and comprehended 
by them, and when it acts upon no class of hearers in a repulsive 
manner. 

B. The second principal law of sacred eloquence is: preach in 
a popular manner. This follows: 

(a) From the nature of the thing: At ego otiosum sermonem 
dixerim, quern auditor suo ingenio non intelligit. 1 

(b) From ecclesiastical precepts: The councils and the encycli- 
cals of Popes constantly emphasize the popularity of sermons. 
The council of Trent emphasizes especially that the sermon should 
correspond to the capacity (capacitas) of the people, and, therefore, 
should be couched in easily comprehended, pleasant, and flowing 
language: cum brevitate et facilitate sermonis. 2 

Pius IX, in his first encyclical — Qui pluribus — addresses the 
following admonition to the preachers of the world : Ut . . . Sanc- 
tissimae nostrae religionis dogmata et praecepta . . . graviac splendido 
orationis genere populis dare, aperteque enuntient. Very interest- 
ingly did the Sacred cong. Epp. et Reg. (1894) write on this point, 
in an encyclical to the Italian bishops and priests (n. 4-6). 

The popular element molds the sermon into a full and genuine 
mutual intercourse between preacher and the people, into a sort of 
a virtual conversation. The preacher must be disposed to weigh 
with his people dogma upon dogma and proof after proof, and 
enable them to penetrate these and make them their own. The 
preacher, in difficult demonstrations of proofs, must look backwards 
in order to see, like the humane mountain-guide, whether his own 

1 Quintilian, Introd. orat., 8 c. 2. 2 Trid. Sess. V. c. 2. 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 79 



are following; therefore, he must prepare pauses — to rest, to 
review, to look forward, and to repeat. 

In regard to resolutions and amendments of life, preacher and 
people should be one heart and one soul. But the contrary is 
generally the case if the preacher soars into abstract and lofty 
regions, whilst the hearers are disinterestedly seated deep down in 
the valley: Testis enim mihi est Deus, quomodo cupiatn omnes vos 
in visceribus Christi. 1 

(c) The importance of this qualification of popularity of a 
sermon determines likewise the importance of the means by which 
it is attained. We will briefly enumerate here the means which are 
to be directly applied in the practical exercises: 

1. A personal, deep, and clear understanding of theology begets 
popularity. Whoever wishes to become a popular preacher must, 
above all, be well posted in dogma and moral. Just at a time when 
the preacher desires to popularize a certain dogmatic or moral 
doctrine or passage of Holy Scripture scientifically, without any 
phraseology, he will often find, here and there, obscurities and gaps 
in his own knowledge. Therefore, dogma and moral should fre- 
quently be consulted in the preparation of a sermon. We recom- 
mend here again works which will preserve a medium between the 
strictly scientific sort and a sturdy popular tone; therefore, again — 
Warmer's Handbooks of Religion, Meschler's writings, f.i. his 
" Gift of Pentecost/' Life of Christ, Segur's and WezePs religious 
writings, good catechetical sermons. From such solid works as 
these a way is easily found to a proper popularity of a sermon, 
which by no means all of .the above mentioned works contain. 

2. Zeal for souls is a real creator of popularity. The preacher 
desires to gain the people for God at all price, and therefore he never 
tires to discover new ways and new methods to approach his hearers. 
Therefore it can be said in all truth that zeal for souls is truly a 
creator of popular eloquence. But self-complacency is its greatest 
foe. (Compare the explanation of "The spirit of love," p. 49.) 

3. The methodical reading of popular writers — with pen in 
hand — is a most excellent school of popularity. From popular 
writers and preachers the practical pastor can learn much. But 
he must not imitate their weak points, as is often done, nor 
their peculiar style: "How he hawks and coughs — they readily 
discern." 

1 Phillip 1 : 3 sqq., 23-26; 2, 17-18; 4 : 1. 



So HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



In the homiletic reading of religious popular writers of all times, 
and especially of modern times, observe the following points: 

(a) Ask yourself: Wherein lies the force of the idea and of the 
form of the several passages, which make a special impression upon 
us, and in which the writer approaches our thinking and feeling 
most? What attracts the people in the thought, in the speech, and 
in the construction of sentences? 

(b) What passages could be utilized in a sermon for the eluci- 
dation of a dogma, for an impressive driving home of a precept, 
etc.? What explanations of the writer are not suitable for a sermon, 
because they produce so little religious thought, because they 
approach too much the tone of entertaining, because they are too 
broad, because they are too much in opposition to the proper tact 
of the preacher? What may be suitable for this or that eminent 
preacher, but not for me? These questions the younger preachers, 
especially, should often propound to themselves. It shows a want 
of tact and is repulsive if a young preacher yields to a certain 
popular coarseness. Not all things are suitable to every age and 
temperament, (c) Place into your gathered cornucopiae popular 
passages upon some important ideas, f.i., faith, grace, cross, death, 
love of neighbor, justice, etc., or note the places where these can 
be found. (Rich treasures in Stolz, Wetzel.) 

(d) Compare the popular writers and preachers with their 
peculiar style, and select the one or other for a time for a model, 
but do not follow them too slavishly nor too exclusively. Thus, 
f.i., from St. Chrysostom you might learn popular exegesis, from 
St. Augustin a vivid and animating treatment which will directly 
interest the hearer, even on the most difficult dogmatic questions. 
(See, f.i., the beginning of the treatise on St. John, and also the 
homiletic exegesis of the words of our Saviour.) From Bourdaloue 
you might learn details of morality and how to point out erroneous 
paths, especially in the light of great thoughts taken from Holy 
Scripture; from Father Roh popular apologetics which interest 
the masses of the people; from Ketteler the binding force of the 
judgment of popular life in the light of Christianity; from P. Abel 
the succinct and the direct practical treatment of great Catholic 
duties, and likewise of the entire Catholic view of the world in 
excellent masterly catechetics; from Alban Stolz deeply impressive, 
psychological applications which penetrate directly into the inner- 
most soul, especially the practical ways from dogma to life; from 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 81 



v. Ah the intellectually surprising conception of history and life 
in practical illustrations of moment; from Wetzel a simple, succinct, 
and solid, religious explanation. 

4. The source and the model, however, of popular sermons is, 
above all, the Holy Scripture. True, Holy Scripture contains many 
texts and contexts which require a more detailed commentary. 
This is even a part of God's own design. But, on the whole, the 
Holy Scripture is the most popular religious book that exists. It 
presents to us religion and revelation not only as a grand system, 
but also as a fact which exists in the midst of life, concrete, direct, 
in flesh and blood, as it were, and with all the colors and shades of 
the life of feeling which it comprises. It is the inspired word of 
God in a popular form. We desire especially to draw attention to 
the following important points of the popular eloquence of Holy 
Scripture : 

(a) The overwhelming force of an idea. Compare the forceful 
popular presentation of the idea of God in Holy Scripture, in Isaias, 
f.i., throughout the entire book. Overwhelming, for instance, is 
the comparison between God and the world in Isaias, c. 40. Similar 
% to it is that of Baruch: read, f.i., the striking lesson on Holy Sat- 
urday. The power and beauty and the thought of God contained 
in the Psalms are of world-wide celebrity, f.i., Ps. 49: Deus deorum, 
and Ps. 138, 9 sqq. 

We will merely add a short direction for practical work. Give 
the overwhelming power of the idea of God, as unfolded in Isaias 40, 
10 sqq., full scope to act upon you: "Behold the Lord God shall 
come with strength, and His arm shall rule : ... He shall feed His 
flock like a shepherd: He shall gather together the lambs with His 
arm, and shall take them up to His bosom. . . . Who has measured 
the waters in the hollow of His hand, and weighed the heavens with 
his palm ! Who hath poised with three ringers the bulk of the earth, 
and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance! ( 
Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been his 
counselor, and that taught him? . . . Behold the gentiles are as a 
drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: 
behold the islands are as a little dust. And Libanus shall not be 
enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offer- 
ing." Consider, in connection herewith, that it is precisely modern 
natural science and the discoveries of modern times that are be- 
come, as it were, a commentary on such verses. Here and there, 



82 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



explained in a somewhat modern exegesis, such passages show our 
present generation, precisely through the sermon, the idea of God 
with a convincing force and superiority which cannot be gainsaid. 
It is a sad fact that preachers, in general, no longer gather the 
irresistible force of the idea of God and the language in which it is 
couched from the Holy Scriptures. It should not be said that 
these images are too lofty — not at all ! If the fundamental tone of 
the sermon is clear, perspicuous, virtually conservative — then the 
bulk of the people will follow in climbing to the highest peak of 
the idea of God. (Compare with the just quoted passages also 
Job 38: 2-23, or Ps. 138: 9; Quo ibo a spiritu tuo? et quo a 
facie tua fugiam ? Si ascender 0 in caelum , tu illic es: si discendero 
in infernum tu ades, si sumsero pennas meas diluculo et habitavero 
in extremis maris: etenim illuc manus tua deducet me et tenebit 
dexter a tua me! From the laws of God and from His presence no 
one can escape. God puts His hand everywhere upon man. Every- 
where the right hand of God holds him; it acts, upholds, commands, 
binds, protects, guards, and punishes ! 

By reading such passages, by reflecting and meditating upon 
them, by learning them by heart, by placing them together or* 
explaining them popularly in their most pregnant ideas, one could 
successfully follow, with an overwhelming popularity, such themes 
as — God's omnipotence, His omnipresence, the Creator and the 
creature — adoration of God. With such executions, well ex- 
plained, theological definitions should be combined, f.i., of 
adoration, of the fear of God, of religion, or thoughts taken from 
the foundation of the exercises of St. Ignatius. Often treatises of 
greater dogmatic theologians, such as Hurter, Scheeben, Heinrich, 
give a surprisingly great selection of such powerful passages under 
one central idea, which merely require a meditative depth and 
exegesis. How profitably could a priest spend his free hours, if, 
f.i., he again read the Prophet Isaias, comparing the Latin, the 
German, the English, or Hebrew texts, merely for the purpose of 
meditating and of absorbing within himself, with holy reverence, 
the full majestic idea of God and of the Redeemer as given by this 
sacred writer in its convincing power of ideas? German commen- 
taries on Isaias, f.i., Knabenbauer, would aid such work now 
and then in a fruitful manner, but it ought not be too much devoted 
to particulars. Too many alas! consider such studies too severe, 
and, yet, they become easy and pleasant when once the key thereof 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 83 



is found. Often the mere reading of the text, with the aid of 
a few sketches or short explanations, such as are presented in 
the commentary of Loch and Reischl, is sufficient. We would 
emphasize, on this occasion again, the immeasurable profit of the 
indirect preparation of a sermon. Whoever merely drinks at 
the flowing brooklets of sermon-books will never penetrate into the 
mysterious sources of that phraseless and yet most exalted popu- 
larity, which bubbles up nowhere under the sun more than from the 
depth of Holy Scripture. Here the power of antithesis should also 
be considered. Consider, f.i., Israel's need and the messianic 
redemption: Isa. 10 and 11. Read c. 10: 26-36: Israel's terrible 
need. Our breath almost stands still at the presentation of this 
climactic description of woe. Now the ruin of Jerusalem approaches 
— then the Lord of Hosts breaks the terrible power of the enemy 
like an earthen vessel which is cast against a rock — an entire 
forest of enemies is crushed, and an entire Lebanon of attackers are 
felled. But who is this Lord of Hosts? It is (c. 11) the "rod out 
of the root of Jesse," the mild, lovely Saviour-Infant. How aptly 
could a preacher, on Christmas-day, imitate and partly use these 
images. He shows the world persecuted by lies, by sin, by Satan, 
by poverty, and by death — even to the utmost extremity. (Abunda- 
vit delictum.) Then, of a sudden, the Almighty breaks the power of 
Satan, like an earthen vessel cast against a rock. And, pray, how? 
The divine Christmas-Infant is come: full of truth, of grace, and 
of friendship for man — a rod out of the root of Jesse — a flower out 
of his root. As God He can repair all things — as man He wishes 
to represent us. An entire thicket of the forest of errors shall be 
cut down — and the high mountains of sin shall be laid low. An 
antithesis, which will nowhere find its equal, is the downfall of the 
proud king of Babylon in Isaias, 14:4-21. But the magnificent 
antitheses of the Gospels, which are contained in the addresses of 
our Saviour, should more especially be considered; compare, f.i., 
the doctrine of the Saviour on mortal sin, on the proximate occasion, 
and on scandal, etc.: Si oculus tuns scandalizet te, erue eum, etc. 
(Matt. 5 : 24). Such antitheses should be exegetically explained 
and popularized. 

We finally desire to draw attention to the mysterious power of 
the vital pathos of Holy Scripture; compare f.i., Balthasar's vision 
and punishment, Dan., c. 5. Very marked is the pithy power of 
the prayers of the Psalms and of other prayers of Holy Scripture, 



84 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



f.i., in the canticle of Moses, in the prayer of Solomon at the 
dedication of the temple, etc. 

(b) The directness of the idea presented. Holy Scripture is most 
apt in presenting to us ideas, facts, and demands with such a vivid- 
ness, directness, and noble ingenuousness as if we had personally 
experienced all these things, as if all only concerned ourselves. 
"Holy Scripture surpasses Homer, Xenophon, and Plato in in- 
genuousness, vivacity, and greatness. Never did Homer even 
approach in any manner, in loftiness, the praise and thanksgiving 
songs of Holy Scripture. . . ., never did a Greek or Latin ode 
attain the swing of the Psalms." Thus the Ps. 49: Deus Deoruni 
Dominus locutus est — surpasses all human power of imagination. 
Never did Homer, nor any other poet, equal Isaias when he describes 
the majesty of God, before whose eyes the rich are merely a grain 
of sand, the nations a mere dew-drop which scintillates on a blade of 
grass, a speck of sun-dust in the balance, a tent which today is 
erected and tomorrow removed (according to Fenelon III : Dialogue 
on Eloquence). For a more detailed study such passages are to 
be recommended as Isaias, c. 40: 15-17 (God and the world), — 
c. 24 (The power of God), — Ps. 49 {Deus Deoruni Dominus) , and 
Job 38: 2-33 (the majesty of God — the Creator), — Job 39: 19-30. 
(God creates monsters playfully: description of behemoths and 
leviathans : How can insignificant man dispute with God? — the 
latter passages are splendidly translated by B. Welte: The book of 
Job, copiously reproduced and considered by Baumgartner, Welt- 
literatur, I, p. 27 sqq.) For this class of reading we also recommend 
very much: Jungmann, Geistl. Beredsamkeit, II, Bd. p. 387 sqq., 
Hettinger, Aphorisms; Singularity of the Scriptures, p. 222 sqq., 
St. Augustin, de doctrina Christ., 4 c. 6 n. 9. 10, especially Schleiniger, 
the Office of Preaching, — the Eloquence of the Old Testament, n. 
21 sqq., p. 81 sqq. 

(c) Classical measure and simplicity. In all the magnificence of 
Holy Scripture there always reigns a wise measure, a surprising 
simplicity, from which often the virtual pathos shines only the more 
overwhelmingly. See, f.i., the Gospels, and, above all, the history 
of the Passion. 

(d) The impressiveness of ideas and of words under conditions 
interwoven therewith. Consider under this view-point the great 
revelations of Christ in their connection and devising combination 
with individual circumstances. As an example: the confession 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 85 



of Peter at Caesarea Philippi and the promise of the primacy may 
be adduced (Matt. 16): Peter confesses who Christ is, Christ 
promises what Peter shall be. Consider all the individual cir- 
cumstances and their entire combination. To this belongs also 
the immediately following surprising antithesis: the first prophecy 
of the suffering of Christ with the words to Peter ! vade retro, Satana, 
after the Lord had shortly before said to him : Beatus es Simon Bar 
Jona. In the - faith of the Son of God, Peter seems elevated to 
the heavens (" Blessed art thou") : without any understanding of 
the suffering of the Son of man he sinks, immediately, deeply again, 
very deeply : aye, he speaks, without knowing it, the very language 
of Satan, who wishes to prevent the work of the redemption {Begone, 
Satan). Thus the Gospel makes the idea of suffering and of the 
carrying of the cross of Christ impressive. But with this effect 
the Lord is by no means satisfied. He reproaches Peter sharply. 
But He creates, furthermore, a great sensation by the fact that 
Peter wished to dissuade Him from suffering. He calls all the 
people together, He addresses the Apostles, the disciples, and the 
people in that exalted sermon on the cross: If any one will follow 
Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me, 
etc. Then He leads the three most prominent disciples up the 
mountain and in the midst of the transfiguration Moses and Elias 
speak — of the departure of Jesus from Jerusalem, of His Passion. 
This means the making of a central idea popularly impressive, to 
follow it consequentially by words, circumstances, facts, dialogues, 
and instructions. How all this could be popularized in rich colors, 
impressively and successfully, in a sermon on the Passion and on 
the carrying of the cross! How overwhelmingly could one part, 
f.i., or one point be formed from the material just mentioned: 
What does Jesus think of the Passion? There are preachers who 
think this would be going too far, would require too much time, too 
much description, too much narration. But why do the Apostles 
describe it? Surely not for the purpose of having it philologically 
picked to pieces by certain critics? A solitary point, developed in 
the manner indicated, with all the facts, the antitheses, and the 
explained words of the Saviour, effects more than thirteen obligato 
stereotyped reasons, scantily piled up into scholastic tediousness. 
If once the people had conceived, in mind and heart, in a homiletic, 
florid, but solid and deeply felt explanation of some evangelical 
chapter the question: What does Jesus think of the Passion? 



86 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



How does He instruct Peter concerning the Passion? What does 
He say to the poor, troubled human heart, which dreads suffering 
so much? then those images will loom again during the heavy 
hours, which follow the blows of misfortune and arise in the close 
sick-chamber, their thoughts will become detached therefrom, and 
penetrate like balsam into the suffering souls. Imagination also 
will unfold the exalted images and descriptions once conceived, but 
reason and the will will, under such amiable help, cling to the 
thoughts and the words. Therefore the Gospels were thus written. 
And precisely therefore must we use them and imitate them. For 
such an exercise a harmony of Gospels and a good "Life of Jesus" 
are indispensable. Compare, for instance, in J. Lohmanns Evan- 
gelienharmonie (Paderborn, Jungfermann, Latin or German) ! The 
life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, according to the four 
Gospels, the special numbers 90, 91, 92, in connection with the 
texts of Luke 9: 15, Mark 8: 27-29, Matt. 16: 13-19: The Son 
of God and His representative. — Luke 9: 23-27, Mark 8: 30-39, 
Matt. 14: 20-28; 10:38, 39: The suffering Son of Man and His 
followers. Luke 9: 28-36, Mark 9: 1-12, Matt. 17: 1-13: The 
majesty of God and His humiliation through suffering on the Mount 
of the Transfiguration. 

(e) Popularity of the language in a narrow sense. We desire to 
mention the richness of the noble, succinct pictures, rich in color 
(especially in the Gospel), and above all the charming simplicity 
and naturalness of the narrative. We give as an example of the 
narrative art: Joseph makes himself known, Gen., c. 45; The sacri- 
fice of Abraham, Gen., c. 22; The history of Tobias, especially 
c. 11; the idyllic booklet of Ruth; Elias and the widow of Sarepta; 
III Kings 17, Elias and Horeb, III Kings 19, etc. The biblical 
narratives often combine ingenuous simplicity and the highest 
loftiness, thus, f.i., in c. 1 of Gen. As proof all the historical books 
of the Old Testament could be cited. The dialogues interwoven 
with the narrative possess a special charm and a dramatic expres- 
sion of the inward condition of souls, peculiar to the Bible. Read, 
for instance, the conversations between Jesus and Nicodemus 
(John, c. 3), between Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John, c. 4). 
We find, especially, an unexcelled art of narrative in the Gospels. 
The Gospels are the inspired abridgments of the Apostolic sermons, 
and therefore immortal models of narratives and descriptions of the 
life of Christ for preachers and catechists. We, too, must learn from 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 87 



the Evangelists to relate the same facts, the same miracles, over and 
over again, under new view-points, under new objective thoughts, 
as may be required, at times in energetic, powerful, yet always 
rich-colored abbreviations; at other times in more extensive over- 
whelming descriptions. From the inexhaustible richness of exam- 
ples of the incomparable narrative art, we will especially mention: 
The Gospel: Missus est, Luke, chap. 1; — the narrative of the 
Samaritan woman at Jacob's well — the description of the revela- 
tion of Jesus to the disciples of Emmaus — the apparition of the 
resurrected Christ on the sea of Tiberias. 

The frequent reading and meditation of Holy Scripture and 
especially of the Gospels has an unfailingly great influence upon 
the popular style and especially on the narrative art of the preacher. 
We mention, finally — as another proof of the popularity of lan- 
guage — the singular beauty of the descriptions and illustrations 
of Holy Scripture; compare f.i., Ps. 92; Ps. 17; Job, c. 38; Isa. 11: 
6-8. Herein we never find an empty phrase, a tedious translation, 
a stereotyped repetition, a languid tautology, but in all life, spirit, 
and vigor. For the theme: Bible and popularity (see Jung- 
mann, S.J., Geistl. Beredt. II, B. p. 951: The homily and rhetor- 
ical advantages of the Holy Scripture. Schleiniger, S.J., The 
Ecclesiastical Office of Preaching, 3rd ed., p. 80. The eloquence of 
Holy Scripture, Baumgartner, S.J., Weltliteratur I., Bibel und 
Weltliteratur, p. 3 sqq., The poems of the Old Testament, p. 16 sqq. 

5. A correct conception of the popular mind and a correct spirit of 
the language for popular addresses, gained therefrom, is an important 
source of popularity. 

(a) Concerning the correct conception of the popular mind we 
desire to call to mind several ideas of Sailer, which are found in his 
work: "Neue Beitraege zur Bildung des Geistlichen — Muenchen 
1809, 1 T., p. 36 (also copied by Jungmann, Geistl. Beredt., 1., 
p. 169 sqq.), also partly in vols. 1 and 3 of his Pastoral Theology. 

(a) The people have few ideas. 

(/3) The people, on the average, have little chance to form con- 
ceptions. Therefore, the preacher should permit the people to 
think with him and to rise, as it were, from proof to proof through 
his teaching and proofs. For this purpose certain pauses, certain 
views backward, are as necessary as they are in the climbing of 
mountains. 

(y) The people cannot readily perceive the full extent of ideas. 



88 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Therefore, the preacher must aid them by unfolding the ideas in 
an interesting, flourishing manner, and by gathering again that 
which he unfolded. Thus, f.i., the idea of sanctifying grace may 
be unfolded: it is, i. a second, heavenly, divine life, denuo nasci. 
(John 3: 5, 6 sqq.), in contrast to death by sin and mere earthly, 
natural, human life. Describe, by way of illustration: The child 
before and after baptism; the mortal sinner before and after abso- 
lution. 2. Sanctifying grace is a second heavenly, divine power to 
merit heaven, to live not merely a human but a Christian life, to 
do not only human works, but heavenly works, meritorious for 
eternity. Show this by several examples. 3. Sanctifying grace is 
truly something divine within us — " something that comes from 
God" — an image, a likeness of the divine properties divinae con- 
soles naturae (II Pet. 1:4). God, the eternally glorious, gives us 
of His divine, heavenly glory, as much as man can take and retain, 
etc., so does also God the just, the eternally beautiful and holy, 
give us of His divine beauty, sanctity, and justice. 4. Sanctify- 
ing grace is God's friendship with us ; through it we are children of 
God, brothers of Christ, heirs of the kingdom of Christ. Then, at 
the conclusion, give an energetic, practical combination of these 
floridly explained ideas in a logic-historical order: f.i., second 
(supernatural) birth — second life — second power — second home 
— all in God, by God, and with God. 

Thus the golden vessels of dogmatic conception are opened and 
their gold and jewels are exposed before the eyes of admiring 
hearers in a supernatural splendor. But nothing must be per- 
mitted to creep in that would savor of trifling and empty phrases. 
Everything should participate in the dogmatic illustrations. Dogma 
should lead and the Bible illustrate through the spirit of God. 

In this manner the preacher should explain the idea by employ- 
ing all his talents and gifts, drawing the richness most richly from 
the fountains, especially the principal ones, whilst he places before 
the eyes of the people the jewels, as it were, of the purest treasures 
of Holy Scripture and theology: verbuni tuum super aurum et 
topazion. Thus the people will learn to value the ideas of religion 
and their extent: f.i., of grace, of the sacred consecration in mass, 
absolution, virtue, the cross, etc. 

(8) The people either cannot comprehend, or only compre- 
hend with great difficulty a heavy and excessively rich speech, 
especially if it be not borne by a practical central idea: "A treefull 



SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 89 



would be too much, much more so an entire forest of ideas. Take 
a branch loaded with fruit and offer it to the people. This it can 
grasp, it can survey it, and carry it home and be invigorated by its 
fruits." (Sailer.) 

(c) Among the people there is much disparity, and even the 
most experienced are often lacking in clear insight into the affairs 
of salvation. 

(b) In regard to the correct spirit of language we desire to recall 
the following grammatical rules of syntax, partly in connection with 
Sailer. 

(a) The fundamental rule is: Form short sentences and exer- 
cise incessantly with such kinds of presentations in a practical 
manner, but especially in writing, f.i., by translating from some 
higher popular style into a style of simple sentences, in which 
periods appear only occasionally, mostly in effectual passages, 
whilst the whole moves in the light armor of short sentences. 

(P) Often change difficult and abstract substantives into living 
verbs or into a series of short, vivid sentences. Instead of the turn: 
Christ has given for us a superabundance of satisfaction, it might 
be better to say: We are purchased, not with gold and silver, but 
by the precious blood of the immaculate Lamb of God. Christ has 
paid for all of our sins with His blood. He has paid richly for them. 
Sin abounded — but grace abounded the more. 

(y) In the place of obscure or abstract ideas of an explanation 
substitute richly colored notions of parts, in a dramatic presenta- 
tion. Thus, for instance, the idea of consecration in the Holy 
mass might be explained in a popular manner by putting on the 
lips of our Saviour Himself the ideas of sacrifice and by showing what 
Christ says and does in consecration to the heavenly Father for us, 
how He works in an atoning, saving, and life- sacrificing manner, 
and this should be done, possibly, in connection with the words of 
the psalm: A spice pater et respice in faciem Christi tui. 

(S) Avoid in the combination of words and sentences, there- 
fore, in the construction of sentences in general, everything which 
encumbers the meaning, f.i., instead of saying: Paul overcame 
... all the difficulties which the Jews and the pagans placed in 
his way, it is better to say: The Jews prepared for Paul many diffi- 
culties. The pagans laid difficulties in his way. Paul removed all 
these difficulties. For the purpose of finding unpopular sentences 
the reading of one's own writing is very commendable. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(e) In all events, the preacher should seek the noble conversational 
language, used in the most possibly direct intercourse with the people, 
as if he were especially engaged with every one individually. 

6. Naturalness, i.e., the language of the Christian mind and 
heart, is the secret of popularity. This will appear more readily if 
the preacher transforms religious truths, by means of meditation, 
into flesh and blood; if religion becomes to him not only an 
intellectual property, but an ethical possession, an affair and a 
necessity of the heart. 

In connection with this, never forget that speech is only a 
means to the end. Against a far-fetched ornamentation, which is 
in constant conflict with this principle, the words of Faust, by 
Goethe, may be aptly applied: 

Be thine to seek the honest gain, 

No shallow- tinkling fool! 

Sound sense finds utterance for itself, 

Without the critic's rule. 
If clear your thought, and your intention true, 
What need to hunt for words with much ado? 
The trim orations your fine speaker weaves, 
Crisping light shreds of thought for shallow minds, 
Are unrefreshing as the foggy winds 
That whistle through the sapless autumn leaves. 1 

Now, after having explained the fundamental questions, and 
having comprehended the highest principles of sacred eloquence, we 
will treat of its sources, so important for the sermon. These will 
require considerable time. 

1 Compare the spirited remarks on these verses by Jungmann: testimonium 
animae naturaliter Christianae, 1. p. 182 sqq. Compare also p. 181 sqq. with a 
quotation from Beda Weber. 




TBoofe III 

THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



The sources of sacred eloquence should pour into the sermon 
the living waters of the word of God. 

The main defects of sacred discourses, however, originate purely 
from the fact that nothing, or very little, is drawn from the purest 
and the first sources. 

Literature for sermons is indeed of vast importance to the 
homilist. But it would be death to genuine sacred eloquence if 
the preacher were not, above all things, conversant with the first 
and immediate sources of revelation. Drawing from diverted 
streams never gives original freshness. 

The sources of sacred eloquence are mainly the well-known 
sources of theology. Still, homiletics must not treat them merely 
in a superficial manner, in a few empty words. It is rather its 
task to present these general sources of theology, as sources of 
sacred eloquence in their respective individual kinds, and to render 
them familiar to preachers and theologians and dear, accessible, and 
fruitful to them. We consider an exposition of these sources from 
a homiletic view-point, as well as the practical inducement and 
direction to draw from these sources, one of the most important 
tasks of homiletics. 

Besides the well-known sources of theology many other fields 
might be opened among the sources of sacred eloquence, f.i., per- 
sonal religious life, pastoral experience, a very necessary knowledge 
of popular life, etc. But all these may be better considered from 
other view-points. Therefore, we will only treat that which, in 
the proper sense, may be called a source of the word of God and of 
preaching the same. 

We designate as sources of sacred eloquence: 

1. Holy Scripture, 

2. The liturgy of the Church and liturgical books, 

3. The works of the Fathers of the Church, 

4. The decisions of the Holy See and of councils, 

91 



92 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



5. Scientific theology, 

6. Ascetic literature, 

7. Literature for sermons. 

We will treat these sources in the following chapters. 

CHAPTER I 
HOLY SCRIPTURE 

In two articles we shall consider: 

1. Holy Scripture as a source of sacred eloquence, 

2. The practical use of this source of sacred eloquence. 

ARTICLE I. THE HOLY SCRIPTURE — A SOURCE OF SACRED 

ELOQUENCE 

If we call Holy Scripture the first source of a sermon, we mean 
this in its fullest and widest sense. We consider Holy Scripture in 
this place not simply as the first of homiletic "loci," as a simple 
theological and homiletic source of proof. This it is most certainly 
in the fullest sense of the word. But it is more. It must influence 
the whole sermon, not only its proof. It must give force, unction, 
popularity, practical life, substance, beauty, sublimity, and victory 
to the entire sermon. 

In our homiletic or catechetical studies we know no thesis which we 
have more at heart than this. This follows from the very nature of things 
and from the observation that so many modern sermons and preachers 
suffer from homiletic consumption — we mean from "ignorantia scrip- 
turarurn." Since, from so many view-points and in all the chapters of 
our homiletic studies, we shall often return to this subject, and since, 
furthermore, we consider it a principal object of these pages to direct 
the interest of the future and genuine preacher, time and again, toward 
Holy Scripture, therefore, we will content ourselves in this article with 
collecting the principal view-points and giving the more important 
inducements. 1 

1 Literature: Augustin, de doct. christ. 4: 6, n. 9. See Jungmann, Geistl Beredt, 
II B. 11 ch. par. 1 p. 699 and 13 ch. par. 2. p. 951. Schleiniger, Pred. Amt, II Abschn. 
1 ch. par. 2 p. 77 sqq. Hettinger, Aphor. XII, p. 237 sqq. XIII, p. 254, VIII, 
p. 155. Alban Stolz, Horn. p. 30, 121, 184. Fenelon, Dialog. III. Especially 
Sailer, Pastor. Theolog. I. B. Katholik, 39 Jahrg. Jan. 1859 bes. II: Nutzen 
der heil. Scbrift. Hist. Pol. Blaetter, B. 59. Rollin, Traite des etud., t. 2. 1. 
4ch. 3. Bossuet, Grandiloquentia psalmorum. Audisio, Lezioni di sacra elo- 
quenza, t. 1. 1. 1. Ackermann, Leo XIII and Sacred eloquence. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 93 



Before we begin the proof of our thesis we desire to remind our readers, 
once more, that the Catholic Church recognizes two sources of faith: 
Scripture and tradition, and that the Church herself leads us to these 
sources of faith and teaches us to draw therefrom. The Church herself, 
therefore, is the living regula fidei, and therefore she establishes her 
guiding principle in the interpretation of Holy Scripture. She permits, 
however, individual consideration and application to have a very wide 
range. For this we refer to dogma, apolegetics, biblical scientific intro- 
duction, and claim to draw the attention of the homilist especially to the 
reading of the grand encyclical of Leo XIII on Holy Scripture: " Provi- 
dentissimus Deus." This highest manifestation precisely is calculated, 
more than anything else, to present to the preacher the singular signifi- 
cance of Holy Scripture — in the most perfect Catholic light. Upon 
the background of this encyclical we desire to place the following 
homiletic considerations and establishment of proofs. 

Our thesis: Holy Scripture is the first source of preaching — 
rests upon the following grounds of evidence: 

1. Holy Scripture is, in its nature and uniqueness, the one book 
inspired by the Holy Ghost for the preacher. 

2. Holy Scripture is the word of God: it does not merely 
contain it. 

3. Holy Scripture is a summary and a compendium of the 
entire revelation, even though it is not the only source of faith. 

4. Holy Scripture is a picture of religion designed by God 
Himself as a fact and a history in flesh and in blood, full of life and 
color, and not merely an abstract system. 

5. Holy Scripture is the full picture of Jesus Christ, the book 
concerning Jesus Christ, who is the main theme of every Catholic 
sermon. 

6. Holy Scripture is divine pragmatics and pedagogics — a 
unique history of divine providence. 

7. Holy Scripture is an inexhaustible source of enriching and of 
giving depth and weight to our religious and moral ideas. 

8. Holy Scripture is a unique collection of marvelous types of 
characters. 

9. Holy Scripture is a source of a first, fresh, and popular 
eloquence. 

We will treat these arguments of our thesis in the following 
paragraphs. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ i. Holy Scripture — the Book Created by the Holy Ghost 

for the Preacher 

We will furnish the first proof under the following points of view: 

(a) The essence, the nature, and the peculiarity of Holy Scrip- 
ture show this. The object of the Holy Book and of the collection 
of all of the Holy books, which are written under the inspiration 
of the Holy Ghost and acknowledged by the Church as the word of 
God, is primarily not scientific instruction, nor the collection of 
theological material of sources, but, undoubtedly, the revelation 
of God for the salvation of souls, for the good of souls. Holy Scrip- 
ture is, according to the language of the Holy Fathers, a message 
of God to humanity, which shows the way to Him. The infallible 
Church does not withdraw the Bible from the people. Neither does 
she place it into the hands of the people indiscriminately and with- 
out every control and explanation. Nor is Holy Scripture written 
for the mere disputation of the learned, though a learned examina- 
tion of the Scripture is of eminent importance: and this finally 
must serve again the real object of the Bible, the work of the direc- 
tion of souls. Therefore, the Bible is primarily, and in the fullest 
sense of the concept, written for those, of every degree, who an- 
nounce the word of God — therefore, above all, for preachers. 
Through them the Holy Scripture is unfolded to the people, that 
they might hear it, comprehend and read it: fides ex auditu. The 
Pontifical and the council of Trent, therefore, repeatedly designate 
the sermon as means to inter pretari sacras scripturas. Many parts 
of Holy Scripture are, furthermore, inspired extracts of real sermons; 
thus, the books of the Prophets and especially the Gospels; these 
are for this very reason, in a double sense, prototypes and primary 
sources of all sermons. 

(b) The very evidence of the Bible proves the same. There 
can be no clearer nor more emphatic proclamation that the Bible 
is the book of the preacher than the classical passage of II Tim. 3 : 
16-17: Omnis Scriptura divinitus inspirata utilis est ad docendum, ad 
arguendum, ad corripiendum, ad erudiendum in justitia, ut perjectus 
sit homo Dei, ad omne opus bonum instructus. The contents of the 
text itself, the entire connection of the pastoral letter, as well as 
the much beloved, energetic expression Holy Scripture uses for the 
preacher and messenger of God : Homo Dei 1 Vir Dei — justify 

1 F.i., I Tim. 6: 11. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 95 



most fully our application of the passage to the preacher. Holy 
Scripture, therefore, by words inspired by the Holy Ghost and 
by the lips of the greatest Apostolic preacher and pastoral teacher, 
— St. Paul, — places all its immeasurable riches at the disposal 
of the preacher. Consequently it would be a betrayal of the 
office to permit these riches to be stoTed away in some forsaken 
corner. 

(c) The testimony of the great Fathers of the Church, of the 
ecclesiastical teachers and preachers, furnishes the same proof. 
St. Jerome ventures to say most energetically: Ignorantia scrip- 
turarum ignorantia Christi est. (Super Isaiam, c. 1.) In the same 
sense he says: Si juxta Apostolum Paulum Christus Dei virtus est 
et Dei sapientia, qui nescit scripturas, nescit Dei virtutem et sapientiam 
(Hier. 1. c). But to Nepotian he writes: Divinas Scripturas saepius 
lege: into nunquam de tua manu sacra lectio deponatur. Disce quod 
doceas: Obtine eum, qui secundum doctrinam est, fidelem sermonem. 
(St. Hier. ep. ad Nepot.) From St. Ambrose we received this 
splendid admonition: Utriusque poculum bibe veteris et novi testa- 
menti, quia in utroque Christum bibis. Bibe Christum, quia vitis 
est. Bibe Christum, quia petra est, quae vomuit aquam. Bibe 
Christum quia Jons vitae est. Bibe Christum quia flumen est, cujus 
impetus laetificat civitatem Dei. (Enarr. in ps. 1.) As the ancient 
preachers spoke, so speak likewise the more recent homilists and 
homiletic writers. Bossuet often repeats the saying of St. Jerome 
to Nepotian: " Never permit this divine book to be out of your 
hands." He made it a rule for himself, that in all of his homes, at 
the court in Paris, and in the country, there should always be a 
Bible and a concordance placed upon his desk. He could not 
imagine himself without these: "I could not live without them," 
he was wont to say. 1 " Never does sacred eloquence shine more 
brilliantly," writes Audisio, 2 "even to the profane gaze, than when 
its pathos, its admonition, its thundering and its exalted consola- 
tions are borrowed from Holy Scripture." (See Schleiniger, 
Predigt., p. 77 sqq.) 

§ 2. Holy Scripture — the Word of God in the fullest sense 

Holy Scripture is the word of God. It does not merely contain 
the word of God. God is the author of the Old and the New 

1 Cardinal Bausset, Histoire de Bossuet, 1. XXXII. 1. 1. 5. III. 

2 Audisio, Lezioni di sacra eloquenza, t. 1. 1. 1. 



96 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Testament. Thus teach the councils of Florence, 1 Trent 2 and of 
the Vatican. 3 God did not merely preserve the immediate writers 
by His assistance against error in a negative manner, but He also 
inspired them positively, i.e., He acted upon their mind, will, and 
feelings in such a manner that it may be justly said: God is the 
Author of these writings. God has really inspired them. The writers 
were actually, in a very peculiar manner, the instruments of God; 
their writings are in a most special manner the word of God to man. 
Their writings were preserved not only against error : they are, 
such as they exist, according to their entire being, thought, and 
individuality, idea and word, contents and form, a divine produc- 
tion. The individuality of the writers and their human talents 
are indeed not suppressed therein, but are brought, in an entire, 
exceptional, and extraordinary sense, into the service of God. Since 
the Bible is thus, in a unique manner, the fruit of a divine pro- 
duction by means of human instrumentality, a discourse of God 
to humanity, and is, furthermore, as we have already seen, the 
book of the preacher prepared by God Himself — therefore, it is, 
in a perfect and an eminent sense, the word of God, and, for this 
very reason, the first source of the announcement of the word 
of God. 

§ 3. Holy Scripture — A Compendium and Summary 

of Religion 

Though Holy Scripture is not the only source of faith, and, 
therefore, does not contain all the truths of faith, still it unfolds 
universal revelation and the whole economy of salvation, from Genesis 
to the Apocalypse. It contains by far the most truths of faith, 
expressed or implied, in marvelous connection and richest develop- 
ment, depth, and simplicity, combined with a divine prudence. 
Holy Scripture thus offers to the preacher a compendium of re- 
ligion containing an immeasurable wealth of thought, doctrines, 
precepts, feelings, types of characters, and examples which are 
absolutely inexhaustible. Compare the scriptural proofs in some 
of the weighty dogmatic works rich in positive theology, f.i., Schee- 
ben's, Hurter's, Heinrich's — and you will be really astonished at 
the richness of the light which gleams from Holy Scripture into 
theology. Such a summary of religion must, of course, be the 

1 Eug. V. decret. pro Jacobitis. 2 Trid. Sess. IV. cf. Lat. 10. Sess 11. 

8 Vat. Const, de fide oath. c. 3. (Spiritu Sancto inspirante conscrip.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 97 



book of books to him who proclaims the divine word, the source 
of all sources. We desire especially to draw attention to the excel- 
lent advantage which the exegetical scriptural proofs of good 
theologians offer to the preacher. Through positive dogma and 
moral likewise does the preacher learn to know, guided by the 
Church, the immeasurable riches of the Bible. (See later on, the 
treatise on the principal themes of sermons.) 

§ 4. Holy Scripture — A Presentation of Religion in Flesh 
and Blood, with Color and Life 

Holy Scripture presents the word of God not only as an abstract 
system, but as a fact, as history in flesh and blood, in color, and 
in life. The historical description itself is, moreover, not merely 
a human work, but one occasioned and inspired by the Holy Ghost. 
But precisely the historical books, i.e., history in general, as well 
as the several historical sketches and documents, belong to the 
effective rhetorical means. The Holy Ghost Himself placed, there- 
fore, a book into the hands of the preachers in which religious 
revelation meets the proclaimers and the hearers of the divine 
word in a most effective rhetorical manner and with an inexhaus- 
tible fulness. The Bible is the great historical illustration, designed 
by God Himself, of divine truth, of divine grace, and of divine 
ways for all times and all conditions; therefore, it is also the first 
source and the most excellent means to bring these religious truths 
home to the people. The preacher should therefore illustrate the 
truths, the precepts, and the graces of religion, above all, by the 
Bible, and therefore mainly employ the historical books of the 
Old and of the New Testament. Thus, f.i., the books of Moses, 
of Samuel, and of the Kings, of Tobias, of the Machabees, the 
Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles furnish a fulness of charming 
historical sketches, which are raised beyond all criticism. In this 
matter the preacher should also consider that there is no more 
objective description of history than the Bible: without any re- 
gard to persons facts are narrated, and often, with a divine prudence, 
men and human acts are measured by the eternal law, by divine 
ways and objects in a spirit of justice and of mercy. But Holy 
Scripture, considered as history, is not merely an inexhaustible 
collection of historical sketches for the illustration of truth — but 
it shows revelation itself, and the whole work of salvation as an 
irrefutable historical fact. Research therefore in the Bible, as a 



98 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



history, enables especially the preacher to preach to the people 
the great facts of religion, such as the life of Jesus, the actual proofs 
of the divinity of Christ, etc., in a most convincing and successful 
manner. Compare, f.i., the discourses of Peter contained in the 
Acts of the Apostles, on Pentecost, Acts 2, 14, 47 sqq., in connection 
with the fact of the mission of the Holy Ghost, or his grand dis- 
courses in connection with the healing of the man who had been 
born lame given in ch. 3 and 4, of the same book. There is scarcely 
an example which announces more convincingly the effects of the 
overwhelming power of the indisputable facts of the history of 
salvation, especially of the resurrection of Christ. (See, f.i., IV, 
19, and V, 32.) 

The homilist will do well, at the outset, if he disposes and pre- 
pares himself, in the preparation of a sermon for the highest feast- 
days, by a meditative reading of the Bible on the facts which are 
to be celebrated and explained. For this purpose harmonized 
Gospels especially, are of great service, such as Lohmann's, in which 
the texts of the Evangelists are dove-tailed, as it were, on a basis 
of a solid exegesis, and of harmonized studies. 1 Thus the preacher 
will create in himself, in the best possible manner — f.i., through a 
sincere and a devotional reading of the entire history of the resur- 
rection, contained in some harmonized Gospel — an appropriate 
disposition for Easter — so fruitful for a preparation, and he will 
furthermore gain, merely from this reading, the richest stimulant to 
select the aims, themes, and individual practical thoughts. Often 
the mere exegesis of the facts themselves, considered as a homily of 
the feast, are best adapted for a theme, f.i., "The day of the Resur- 
rection of Christ" (a prolific collection of the many facts of the day 
with a climax, and with short interwoven applications and some tri- 
umphant central application at the end) ; the occurrence of Epiphany 
explained in a homily of the feast, which develops the richest mean- 
ing of the feast and of the mystery, etc. (See below: Epiphany, 
in the chapter on liturgy and the ecclesiastical year.) 

"It is incredible how worthy of God the Bible appears when 
considered as history. It is incredible what material for remarks 
the Bible furnishes when it is regarded in the light of history." 2 

1 Lohmann, The Life of our Lord and Savior, J. Ch., (Latin or German). The oft- 
repeated and misused phrase of the indispensability of this or that book for the library 
of the preacher is here a perfect truth. 

2 Sailer, Pastor. Theolog. I. B., p. 215. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 99 



§ 5. Holy Scripture — The Book on Christ Jesus 

Christ Jesus controls the books even of the Old Testament. 
But the New Testament, above all, is the book given to us by God 
concerning our Saviour. The Gospels are really the inspired abridg- 
ments of the Apostolic sermons concerning the person and the 
works of Christ. The Apostolic letters are concentrations of the 
person, the kingdom, the dogma, the moral, and the ascetics of 
Christ. This is of a most important bearing on the principal 
theme of the sermon: Christ Jesus. It is really the task of the 
homilist to preach Jesus Christ: Nos autem praedicamus Jesum 
Christum crucifixum — Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam. 1 (Compare, 
in relation to this central idea of homiletics, the chapter on the 
substance of sacred eloquence and especially the sermon concerning 
Jesus Christ.) Here we may again apply the words of St. Ambrose : 
Utrumque poculum bibe veteris et novi testamenti, quia in utroque 
Christum bibis. (Enarr. in Ps. 1.) Nothing makes us more familiar 
with Christ than the meditation, the study, and the seeking of Jesus in 
the Bible. If to the intercourse with Jesus in the Bible the inter- 
course with Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is added, then the preacher 
is on the right road to preach Jesus, in the full sense of the word. 
(Compare p. 137 sqq., 677 sqq.) We devote here very little space 
to this important view of the Bible, because later on, when con- 
sidering the pragmatics of Holy Scripture, n. 19 and 20, and, as 
already mentioned, when speaking of the contents of a sermon 
from other view-points, we will again revert to this foremost theme 
of sacred eloquence. 

§ 6. Holy Scripture — A History of Divine Providence 

Holy Scripture is an exalted history of Divine Providence in 
general — an unveiling of divine pragmatics and pedagogics. Holy 
Scripture discloses, as far as it is given for man's eyes to see, the 
divine plan of the world and its execution among the nations and 
peoples. In this regard the Bible opens an insight and a far sight 
as no other book in the world possibly could. Whilst the every- 
day world and the purely earthly gathered history can only show 
us a view of the past, of the motley web of the happenings of nations 
and of men, and show us deeds of which the threads often run 
irregularly into each other, the inspired Holy Scripture furnishes 
1 1 Cor. 1 : 23. I Cor. 3:11. 



ioo HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



us views, from time to time, of the glorious side of the divinely 
woven carpet. It opens before us, in great and often in small 
sketches, the course and the development of the divine plan of the 
world, through the midst of the confusion of the world's history. 

The pragmatic conception of the Bible is for the preacher such 
an inestimable treasure that we shall offer to the homilist, in the 
following paragraphs, a short collection of the most important 
pragmatic ideas. The reading of this homiletic pragmatic chapter 
might induce the preacher to strive after a more extensive and 
deeper conception of scriptural pragmatics by reading some of the 
more renowned exegetists and historians of the biblical revelation 
and of the life of Jesus. For this purpose we recommend, especially, 
the introduction to the life of Jesus by Grimm, the history of 
biblical revelation by Dr. Hahneberg, and the entire and uniquely 
grand description of the life of Jesus by the first quoted author. 

It is true, indeed, that such pragmatic ideas should not always 
be preached directly. But the pragmatic conception of Holy 
Scripture gives the preacher the first true, deep, and Catholic 
view of the world, a grand and true conception of the kingdom of 
Christ, an irrefragable conviction that — in spite of all human 
infidelity and weakness, in spite of the world and of the devil, 
under all possible cultural developments, fates, and impediments 

— the kingdom of Christ will attain its victory. It is the Bible con- 
sidered as the history of Providence — such an overwhelming pic- 
ture of divine love and truth, a drama, the most unique, of the 
divine care of souls in general and in particular, and especially 
of the care of souls through speech — that the preacher will 
refresh and re-animate, time and time again, the spirit of faith, 
of love, and of the care of souls. Individual pragmatic collections 
are also appropriate for direct preaching material, especially prag- 
matic collections from the Gospels, f.i.: How did Jesus educate 
the Apostles to faith in His divinity? (Proof of the divinity of 
Christ from the well-concerted acts and revelation of Christ, by 
which He educated His own, up to the public acknowledgment of 
the divinity of Christ in Caesarea Philippi.) 1 How did Christ 
establish the work of His life — the Church? (Proof, taken from 
the four Gospels to the feast of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles 

— pragmatically arranged as a climax.) Biblical pages on Mary 

1 See A. Meyenberg: Aus der Apostelschule. A study on the pedagogics of 
Christ, Luzern, 1899. See also later on: Sermons on Jesus. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 101 



(the first page of the Bible: Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, 
etc.) — the first pages of the book of the Prophet (Isaias : ecce 
virgo concipiet), the first page of the Gospels (Ave Maria), the last 
page of the Gospels (Stabat Mater), the first page of Church history 
(history of the Apostles: The Apostles and the early Church, cum 
Maria matre ejus). — These last mentioned ideas might be deeply 
and fully popularized. If the first page of the public life of Christ 
be added (Cana) — then the greatness of Mary could be presented 
solely from Scripture, in a cycle of practical pragmatic sermons. 
It would only be required to emphasize sharply each time the 
different fundamental thought of the revelation of Mary, in con- 
tradistinction to the other sermons, and likewise the controlling 
practical aims should be determined in the very beginning. Before 
a cultured audience the history of Providence in the Old Law could 
at some time be presented in great outlines, as a means of lifting 
them up to Christ, f.i., in Advent or on the feast of Epiphany. 
But herein practical and striking applications must not be for- 
gotten. Individually the Bible appears under the just considered 
view-point : 

(a) As a history of Providence in general. 

(b) As a history of the development of the plan of the world 
in particular. 

(c) As a history of the entire human race in its course toward 
God, away from God, and again back to God. 

(d) As a history of the true religion, with all its battles and 
victories from within and from without. 

(e) As a history of the several revelations of God, which again 
constitute a great act of God. (Heb. i: i sqq.) 

(/) As a history of men and of families, i.e., a history of Provi- 
dence in particular, f.i., the history of Joseph (Genesis, c. 37 sqq.), 
the history of Job, of Tobias. Compare herewith the fruitful 
hints, exercises, and meditations for beginners on the history of 
Joseph of Egypt, by Sailer, Pastoral theolog. I., B. "HI: Schrift 
als Geschichte," p. 216 sqq. 

In the following paragraphs we will give, as an appendix, the 
above mentioned but detailed introduction to the pragmatic con- 
cept of Holy Scripture and to the reading of the Bible for the 
benefit of the preacher. 



io2 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§6. (Continued). The Holy Scripture — Divine Pragmatics 
and Pedagogics in Particular 

i. God's School and Scholars. Holy Scripture opens with a grand 
announcement and a description of creation as an act of omnipotence, 
of the disposing wisdom and the love of God. 1 The universe is God's 
revelation and school: Invisibilia enim ipsius a creatura mundi per ea, 
quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciuntur ? The universe becomes thus a 
lesson for an exalted contemplation. A sensible contemplation of nature 
in the spirit of the account of the creation; an attention given to modern 
progress in the exploration of the universe, of its laws and powers; an 
exalted conception of nature in Holy Scripture, especially in the Psalms, 
in the prophets, in the book of Job, in the books of wisdom, and also in 
the just-quoted letter to the Romans which comprises all in one energetic 
principle — these are just so many invitations to the preacher to preach 
from time to time on the existence of God, on His greatness and glory, 
also from nature, with powerfully depicted convincing proofs and illustra- 
tions — not as if he were preaching to doubters, but so that the hearers 
may not wander about in this great school of God thoughtlessly, espe- 
cially in our days, when, on the one hand, a deeper insight into nature 
announces more irresistibly than ever God's glory, and, on the other 
hand, the natural foundations of religion are attacked more vehemently, 
with greater fury and perseverance. The conception of nature, con- 
tained in the Bible — in Genesis — and in the exalted descriptions of the 
holy books of later times, shows, moreover, how an eternal law governs 
all things, from the atom to the cherub and every creature, in a manner 
that corresponds to its own nature by directing and leading it to its own 
end. Chemistry, likewise, and physics, aye, all the sciences appear in 
this light as a theology, as a word from God. And, precisely on this 
account, there can be no contradiction between the book of nature and 
the book of revelation. Not all difficulties are solved today. But all 
are solvable. The Church does not always interpret passages and con- 
cepts of Holy Scripture immediately. She directs theologians con- 
stantly to search more and more and deeper into the Book of books. 
But the book of nature is by no means exhausted. Thus the progress 
of science, the development of theology, and the activity of the eccle- 
siastical teaching office gradually but surely lead to a grander and more 
overwhelming consonance between nature and revelation, between 
science and the Bible. These fundamental thoughts are contained in 
Genesis and in their entire grandiose conception of the Bible. The 

1 See Scheeben, Dogma, II vol. n. 269, § 4. Compare Hummelauer, Zapletal. 
Der Schoepfungsbericht. Schanz, Apol., p. 622 sqq. See above p. 74, p. 84. 

2 Rom. 1 : 20. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 103 



question regarding this should always be put: What does the Bible 
mean? What does natural science reveal? The first pragmatic thoughts 
must also find their echo in the modern sermon. Compare hereon Leo 
XIII, his last pastoral letter as Archbishop of Perugia, given in the 
Linzer Quartal-Schrift of 1893. 1 The Genesis describes the universe 
as the paedagogium of God. (See p. 73, 81, 669 sqq.) 

The supernatural, however, builds in and on nature. A real sun- 
burst of supernatural human fortune strikes us from the earthly paradise. 
Man is gloriously created and more gloriously gifted with grace: Adam 
is our natural and supernatural progenitor. After having stood the 
test, he should leave as an inheritance natural and supernatural life to 
man. Even on the first page of Scripture the supernatural end of man 
and the supernatural life — which is in him and which he should five 
and never lose, but eternally perfect — are emphasized in a solemn 
manner. Nature and the supernatural are placed by God Himself in a 
glorious combination. The great book of the preacher — Holy Scrip- 
ture — admonishes the preacher with great emphasis to be : a proclaimer 
of the supernatural — an educator of supernatural life. 

An Apologetic Excursus. The Bible describes the beginning and 
the development of the world from a religious point of view in the dress 
of a natural scientific conception of ancient times, mainly in a poetic, 
popularized manner, yet so that even the educated of later times may 
not take offense at such a religious description. Even the modern man, 
through a constant and deep study of the books of the Bible and of 
nature, may well distinguish in the biblical account dogma and frame, 
the contents and the mode of expression, and also the pragmatic-archi- 
tectonic selection in opposition to the substantial fulness of forms and 
developments, which natural science has to investigate. We must 
accept the entire Holy Scripture as the word of God. But we may put 
the question: What kind of truth, and what truths in particular, does 
the hexaemeron intend to develop, according to its literary peculiarity 
and its pragmatic connection, with the entire history of biblical revela- 
tion ? What has the ecclesiastical development of doctrine, in the course 
of time, solemnly emphasized as being of dogmatic force? Wherein 
does liberty for a sane, well-founded further theological development 
exist? What problems are of a purely natural scientific question? 
What belongs especially to that purely natural domain, in which God 
has left the universe for the disputation of the learned ? What are the 
so-called questions of accommodation which eludicate the theme: In 
how far may Holy Scripture, cum fundamento in re, adapt itself, poetically 
and popularly, to the view, to the nature, and to the conception of the 
culture of the ancients, without offending against truth? The full, 

1 Linzer Quartal-Schrift, Jahrg. 1893, p. 38 sqq., p. 328 sqq., p. 565 sqq., p. 864 sqq. 



104 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



clear, and emphatically expressed consensus patrum et theologorum, the 
concordant explanations of Holy Scripture by the Fathers, form a basis 
for the explanation of the Scripture also of later times in things pertain- 
ing to religious moral affairs. In the solution of questions of fitness, 
which also have a specific profane side, the concordance of the Fathers 
is not binding. This well-known ancient maxim was only acknowledged, 
to its full extent, in the classical case of the process of Galileo Galilei and 
in the victory of the Copernican- Galilean system of the world. Leo 
XIII published it in an extensive manner in his encyclical " Providentis- 
simus Deus," and gave thereby a new impetus to the more minute in- 
vestigations by theologians. Though made only occasionally and 
accompanied by a full series of hypotheses, their investigation will 
produce new progress. All pending difficulties between the book of the 
Bible and of nature and history can be fundamentally solved. God, 
the Father and Author of all truth, cannot contradict Himself. The 
proper fines are everywhere drawn by the Church and her theology: 
but all individual difficulties need not be definitely cleared up today or 
tomorrow. Oftentimes greater or smaller probabilities are sufficient 
for a long time to come, with a constant research into the full truth. 
The Church does not interfere at all times. Dogmatically defined 
truths and facts in the account of the creation are the following: The 
idea of a personal God (cf . IV Lat. and the Vatican councils) ; the idea 
of creation from nothing (cf. IV Lat., the Florent. and the Vatican 
councils) ; the condemnation of the theory of a divine semination of the 
essence of the human soul and of the descent or the ascent of the human 
soul from lower nature and from the animal (I.e.), the immortality of 
the human spiritual soul — the complexity of man — consisting essen- 
tially of soul and body — furthermore, the doctrine that the spirit- 
ual soul is the animating and molding form of the essence of the body 
(Viennese council, 13 n). It is theologically certain, however, that 
the council would not define that the soul unites itself with materia 
prima, nor would it establish as dogma the hylomorphic system; 
again, the doctrine of divine providence and the divine government of 
the world, whose creative effluence also constitutes the natural laws, 
and of the possibility of miracles; finally, the law of the Sabbath. An 
evolution and descent, the first author and developer of which is God 
Himself, and which unfolds itself indirectly under the laws of God — 
does not contradict the Bible and is not unworthy of God, but the 
materialistic descent is such indeed. The assumption of an evolution 
of the human soul from animal life is against the Bible and against faith. 
The questions of facts in regard to a possible evolution of original forms 
and species are, of course, to be investigated most conscientiously. The 
view that the human body is the product of a special series of lower and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 105 



higher organic and animal evolutions of a long period, similar to the 
corporeal development of the embryo — without this evolution passing 
through the concrete animal world — but finally terminating with the 
infusion of the soul — encounters indeed biblical and natural scientific 
difficulties — but cannot be declared heretical nor theologically incorrect. 
Yet it is far from being proven. It conceives "the formation of the 
body out of earth" in a broader sense. Such a wider interpretation is 
by no means to be rejected in the anthropomorphic character of the 
account of the creation. The evolution of the body of man out of 
concrete higher animal forms, combined with an assumption of the 
infusion of the immortal soul in the more developed body, which would 
then dislodge the lower principles of life, meets with still greater diffi- 
culties. Yet, even this hypothesis cannot be designated an error against 
faith. Herein theological and natural scientific questions meet. The 
Church has not rejected any of the just mentioned views. The homilist 
and the higher catechist will take note of this, directly or indirectly, 
in his irenic activity, and reject no one unnecessarily. Father Wasman, 
S.J., defends the opinion that God created only a small number of orig- 
inal forms of the plant and the animal world, from which afterwards 
the various species were derived and evolved. If Haeckel rejoices over 
this hypothesis, claiming that the Church has been conquered by Darwin- 
ism, he entirely overlooks the fact that there is an immense difference 
between an evolution which is directly referred to the Creator Himself, 
and the atheistic theory of descent. All of these questions will reach 
their solution through a profound study of nature and of the Bible. 

The literal explanation of the hexaemeron, in its most narrow realistic 
and natural scientific sense, is now abandoned. The theory of restitu- 
tion, which assumes the creation and the evolution of the world after 
creation (between verse 1 and 2) within long periods, and maintains that, 
for some reason or other, a dissolution into chaos followed, and finally 
a new creation in six literal days — is considered untenable. Likewise 
the theory of the deluge, which ascribes all the geological evolutions 
to the biblical deluge. The theory of concordance (more properly called 
the theory of periods or parallel-periods) interprets the word "day" by 
"a period," and claims a biblical basis, resting upon the hexaemeron 
itself and upon other biblical connections for it. It attempts either a 
more complicated or long-drawn-out combination of the natural scientific 
and biblical periods, which should agree with the evolution of the world 
and of the event in their cosmological and geological final results, or 
with some momentous point of evolution. (See the concurrent reports 
and criticisms in Schanz, Apol. 1, p. 606 sqq.; Schoepfer, Old Testament, 
Brixen, 1902; Holzhey, Schoepfung, Bible and Inspiration, Roth, 
Stuttgart-Wien, in the commentaries on Genesis, and especially in 



io6 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Haser's Antworten der Natur, 6 ed., Graz, Moser, 1905, p. 61 , sqq.) 
The first is the creation of matter (verse 1). A scientific pursuance of 
the thought leads to the same result. Verse 2, with the chaos, corre- 
sponds with the nebular body, the primitive mass of gas, and the begin- 
ning formation of the world. Verses 3-5: First Day (light), relate the 
facts of the glowing primordial masses of gas, of the solution of the 
illuminating terrestrial body and of the diffusive light. Verses 6-8: 
The Second Day (firmament-veste, arch or expanse) is in the Bible, also, 
no day of creation, properly speaking: God "made" the firmament. 
The praise of creation, "God saw that it was good," is wanting. The 
second day reminds us, in a popular poetic manner and in the language 
of the ancients, of the space of the world "above the firmament," and 
of the formation of the atmosphere, of the air, the life of our earth, with 
its primitive powerful masses of vapor and their downfall. The air of 
life, the atmosphere, appears like an arch between the earth and the 
space of the world. Verses 9-13: The Third Day (the dry land, 
the seas, and the flora) recalls the fact of the gradual cooling off of 
the crust of the earth, which is proved by natural science. Through a 
collapse occasioned by the cooling off of the earth, in consequence of 
volcanic eruptions, and finally through erosion (constant weathering), 
in conjunction with the powerful downpouring, originated the deep 
nexus of strata in the crust of the earth, into the lowering of which the 
oceans were gathered. The origin of the vegetable world on the same 
day does not contradict the scientific fact that plants and animals appear 
simultaneously in petrifaction. It merely emphasizes the fact, also 
admitted by natural science, that the evolution of the animal world 
generally presupposes the evolution of the vegetable world and also a 
timely evolution of the flora. The members, and likewise the several 
parallel evolutions, are left for natural science to explore. But as this 
often names its under-periods according to the predominant natures 
within them (the period of the ferns and sauria) , so may also the account 
of the creation, from its own point of view, speak of a grand period of 
the vegetable creation. The gradual, slow, and grand evolution of the 
flora is indicated by the Bible itself: "let the earth bring forth the 
green herb." (Verses 11, 12, compare 2, 5 sqq.) The mosaic days of 
creation are not sharply defined. The Fourth Day of creation (verses 
14-19: the sun, moon, and the stars). It recalls the grand facts of the 
penetration of the sun, and of the heavenly light in general, through the 
immense and dense circle of vapor of the forming earth. Science also 
speaks of periods of mighty evolutions of the umbrageous plants and of 
the cryptogamia without any year-rings (horsetails, earth moss, and 
the coal periods) with crepuscular and nocturnal animals, the eyes of 
which were entirely worn away or disproportionately large. Then, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 107 



owing to the impenetrable density of vapor and clouds, no direct ray of 
the sun could reach the earth, whilst, in consequence of the more power- 
ful inner burning furnace, the earth itself was regularly and intensively 
heated, like a gigantic hothouse. Not until after the coal period did 
the sun — contracted into its present size and white-heated and finished 
as the present sun is — exert his full influence upon the more cooled off 
earth, which now began to show diverse climatic changes (limitations 
of plants and other climatic effects, year-rings after the coal periods). 
This evolution, under the natural laws of God, the account of the crea- 
tion could justly . emphasize as particular periods (days) of their kind. 
God said: "Let there be lights made in the firmament." This was 
done by the gradual and complete penetration of the light of the sun. 
Nor does Moses speak here of the creation of a sun, but verse 14 speaks 
of the lights of heaven being "made," and verse 16 says: God made 
(not created) two great lights ... to rule the day and the night . . . 
and the stars . . ., i.e., He produced them for the earth in their full 
manifestation and effect. Thus the account of the creation speaks in a 
popular and yet in a really scientific manner. The Fifth Day (verses 
20-23) with its fowls and water-animals, corresponds to the periods of 
eruptions, in the geological strata of which water and creeping animals, 
birds, the great sea-monsters (sea-crawfishes, fishes, lizards, sauria, and 
small mammalia) appear most prominently. The Sixth Day presents 
the final geological periods with the appearance of a richer and a higher 
animal world and the later appearance of man, at the end of evolution. 
The more expansive this concordance, with a substantial foundation 
in the actual complicated evolution, is conceived, the more readily does 
it commend itself. A too detailed theory of concordance, which would 
stamp Moses, or the first originator of the account of creation, almost as 
a modern natural scientist, should be rejected. 

The constantly recurring phrase: "and there was evening and 
morning, one day," the concordists interpret as the "beginning" and 
the "end" of the several periods, which bear the name "day" and are, 
therefore, entirely and naturally limited by these ideas. Some speak of 
a dawn of periods from chaos and night in new creations and evolutions 
— a constantly new morning of the world. St. Augustin had already 
conceived, in his own fashion, the terms " evening and morning" figura- 
tively, though recently a new group of theories has been advanced. 
These are the idealistic and idealistic-concordant hypotheses. It is said 
that the repeated and attentive reading of the biblical account of the 
creation, and a deeper penetration into the spirit thereof, will always 
make the impression on the reader prevail that Moses speaks of days 
of twenty-four hours in the literal sense. Even those days which pre- 
cede the full development of the sun and heavenly lights, are under the 



io8 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



influence of the evening twilight, of the night and the morning light. 
It is also stated that the evening breaks into the completed day of cre- 
ation; night follows, then a new morning. A division was established 
between day and day. But, continues the new theory, the actual 
days of twenty-four hours are only ideal-religious moments of a division 
of a divine homily on creation. In fact, the biblical account of the 
creation does not intend to depict the actual event of creation or even 
of the evolution of creation. The Bible merely wishes to announce the 
religiously important point of the account of creation in a poetic-popular 
frame and in a pragmatic-moral construction. To this may be referred 
the hypothesis of vision of the Hummelauer school. The six days are 
real days. Adam, or the first author of the account of the creation, sees 
in six or seven visions and apparitions the creative acts of God pass 
before him, like six days, in grand pictures, just as Adam was taught 
the creation of the woman in a vision. Others deny these visions. 
They say: The Bible represents creation as the days' labor of the divine 
Architect, Who finishes His cathedral and whose work and managing, 
thus represented, becomes a type of the human week of labor and of 
the Sabbath. We rather favor a new ideal-concordant-apologetic hypoth- 
esis. The Rev. Prof. Zapletal of Freiburg, Switzerland, has unfolded 
it very ingeniously. We will modify it by a somewhat stronger con- 
cordist touch. Moses, or the first inspired author of the biblical docu- 
ment of the creation — the last redaction of which was undoubtedly 
done by the inspired Moses — places in a prominent view, taken from 
the richness of the history of the creation which natural science may 
develop, religiously highly interesting and important points, considered 
from a point of view and in the language of ancient times, and with due 
regard for pagan geogenies. He states the primeval and fundamental 
fact : Creation by the one personal God, who works without any effort — 
without any aid, without any demiurge, and without opposition. If 
the Babylonian geogenies make mention of a primeval dragon, tiamat, 
with which the divinity is at war, then the final redaction of the biblical 
account of the creation points indirectly to the assumption that there 
is a species of a primeval dragon, the chaos, the primeval sea, the 
primeval mass. (Note the same root of the Babylonian word tiamat- 
primeval dragon — and the corresponding Hebrew word for primeval sea 
and chaos.) But the primeval dragon is to be considered figuratively: 
it is the real chaos, the wild confusion of the universe which God 
had created and which He playfully forms into new creations. The 
modern man will hereby be reminded of the Kant-Laplace theory, 
with its modifications. From God light has its source, which is 
the primary and fundamental condition of fife and of the self- 
development of the universe and of the earth — and which is at the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



same time the most splendid .image of God. God is light, and there 
is no darkness in Him. Natural science asserts, with great force, 
that light is the primeval and fundamental condition of all evolution. 
When light precisely originated and its effect began is, religiously con- 
sidered, a matter of indifference. It is, undoubtedly, in the ideal sense, 
the first day's work of God. The following days disclose the theaters 
and the hosts of God the Creator in an ideal architectonic grouping, 
without the slightest uneasy reference to the periods of geogeny, which 
is left for profane science to explore. Even the ancient scholastics 
spoke of an ideal grouping of creation into a work of distinction (opus 
distinctionis) and of ornamentation (opus ornatus). Zapletal also con- 
ceived this idea, but in a more limited connection with the Hebrew text, 
and differing from the central presentation of God's theater and host 
of the Old Testament. God said: "Let there be a firmament," i.e., let 
all things shape themselves in such a manner that the arch of the heavens 
may appear with the waters above it in the huge reservoirs of the clouds, 
the flood-gates of which will open from time to time, and which will 
send their waters below. The second day of creation — according to 
the modern expression — shows the universe ("above the firmament") 
and the space " before the firmament" — the atmospheric air. The 
third day mentions God's theater upon earth — the seas and the dry 
land — the latter ornamented and prepared by the flora. The follow- 
ing days narrate — in grand religious poetic pictures — how the hosts 
of God enter into these theaters. On the fourth day God's hosts appear 
in the space of the world — the sun, the moon, and the stars, and the 
system of suns — the entire world of constellations to the most remote 
oasis of the universe. The Bible prefers to designate the constellations 
as God's hosts. The fifth day peoples the space "before the firmament" 
and "above the earth," i.e., the atmospheric air, with winged animals — 
without distinguishing in an over-anxious manner their order, classes, 
and species. They also are God's hosts. In like manner the huge 
theater of the seas and waters are peopled with a grand and splendid 
host of smaller and middle-sized and huge living creatures, only visible 
to the strengthened eye. Like the modern natural scientist, if he wishes 
to create a work of a more esthetic tendency (for instance, Haeckel 
who otherwise raves most passionately against the account of the crea- 
tion, in his illustrated work, "The artistic form of the animals of the sea") 
— does not consider the arrangements, the classes, and the evolutions 
in particular, but simply presents the whole picture and its esthetic 
individualities — thus does Moses, from a religious view-point, wish to 
tell us: Behold the wriggling in every drop of water and in the huge 
space of the oceans of the world — all this is a host of God, the King of 
hosts. That many other periods of evolution or developments precede 



no HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the present world of the animals of the sea — that more remotely, 
through imperceptibly long spaces of time, whole periods of creation were 
unfolded, which again went down into nep tunic and volcanic catas- 
trophies — of all that Moses is silent. Aye, of that he himself may possibly 
have been ignorant. God did not reveal this to him. And, as a natural 
scientist, Moses pursued the humble ways of his days and walked in the 
infant shoes of his age. For the opinion that God not only created the 
present animal world of the seas and of the dry land and of the air, and 
permitted them to develop themselves : but also entire worlds and periods 
of flora and of fauna, which again disappeared — for this we need not 
thank the Bible, but we owe it to the progress of natural science. For 
we read in the Bible, the word of God: " subdue the earth and rule over 
it" by science, culture, and industry. "Behold I have given all" — the 
entire universe over to your disputation. It suffices the purpose of 
the Bible to announce to us solemnly: "The theater of the universe and 
the huge hosts of beings in all these theaters are the work of God and 
developments and evolutions of the works of God, according to the laws 
of God. And if the present day's science gives us a much deeper insight 
into these theaters and hosts — aye, whole generations spent their forces 
in order to investigate and penetrate them — still we always love to 
take the Book of all books into our hands. But this proclaims to the 
modern man that all that he has explored and found is only an illustra- 
tion of the first page which humanity has read with edification from its 
infancy — and the contents of which were not weakened one iota during 
recent times. The sixth day makes us witnesses of the existence of a 
varied multiplicity of animals on the stage of the dry-land of the earth — 
and finally, amidst the millions of groups, the king of creation — man — 
appears. After this the Lord rests from the work of the new creation, 
and new formation — but His rest is life, and all His work is become the 
type of our work, action, formation, of the victory of labor and of the 
Sabbath. The account of the creation has, therefore, brought out more 
prominently, from the fulness of the real creation and formation, some 
momentous points — cum fundamento in re — and has arranged them into 
daylight pictures, in an architectonic-pragmatic and pedagogic manner, 
in order to proclaim the Creator and the idea of creation, despising every 
pagan creature-service, and leading all, without exception, directly or 
indirectly, back to God. But it has introduced man as the paragon of 
creation and as the priest of the world. The idealistic-concordist con- 
ception seeks, therefore, no subtle individual comparisons with natural 
science, but happily attempts a grand collection of the chief important 
considerations — of which even modern investigation confirms the 
account in a splendid manner. The idealistic theory, f.i., need no longer 
be troubled about the question: How can the appearance of the stars, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE in 



on the fourth day of creation, be reconciled with the results of natural 
sciences? It simply says : Moses did not intend to give us a chronologi- 
cal-geogenic account; he desires merely to offer us religious instruction 
in a poetic architectonic form; he describes the creation, then the pri- 
meval condition of the evolution of creation — light, finally the stages 
of the universe and the hosts which traverse it, in order to emphasize 
it once more in a poetic architectonic series. And all this the Bible 
unfolds as a many-sided, direct or indirect work of God. As the various 
stages, the universe ("the heavenly space 'over the firmament' or 'on 
the firmament' ") the atmospheric aerial space, the seas and the terres- 
trial dryland were first poetically emphasized — so are also the creations 
of the several divine hosts, which appear upon these stages, described in 
the same order in an architectonic manner, as grand days' works of God. 
The chronological sequence of the evolution of the world, the dissolving 
and the crossing of periods, is a matter of investigation for natural 
science alone, regardless of the Bible which has not troubled itself in the 
least about this purely profane question. The natural scientific language 
of the biblical account, however, has accommodated itself entirely to 
the formation period of the sacred book. The fundamental distinction 
between the purely concordistic and the idealistic theories is, generally, 
too little considered. The combination of the idealistic conception with 
a grand concordistic theory seems to us, at the present stage of investi- 
gation, to be the correct one: the ideal religious construction of the 
hexaemeron in a substantial concordance with the fundamental results 
of natural science. 

But how were the contents of the account of the creation communi- 
cated to Adam, the first or the last redactor thereof ? It may have been 
through a divine report — through an interior illumination — through 
a divine interior inspiration of thought and of the investigating 
human mind — certainly in perfect harmony with the spirit of revela- 
tion through visions, the "days" of which may possibly be still reflected 
in the present account, though the account as such is to be inter- 
preted, in its literary character, as a religious poetic account of facts and 
not as a vision. The inspiration of the author of Genesis, in those parts 
which relate the times which had vanished long before the days of 
Moses, might have made itself felt to such an extent that Moses 
happily collected the original documents, apprehended the correct oral 
traditions, unfolded them more fully by means of a divine illumination, 
and separated and purified them from the pagan disfigured colorations 
and additions. 

Thus the most recent evolution seems to point to a victory of the 
idealistic concordance theory — which of course may adopt the hypoth- 
esis of vision as a means for the solution of the other questions: How 



ii2 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



were the contents of the account of the creation communicated to Adam, 
or to the inspired author or its redactor? 

2. The Catastrophe and Salvation. Our primeval parents fell during 
the time of their probation. The frightful catastrophe of sin shattered 
the morning happiness of humanity. Sin, original sin, death, rebellion 
within man himself followed his rebellion against God. But, on the 
very steps of paradise, the hope of a Redeemer blazens forth in the 
Proto-Gospel to the primeval parents and to the whole human race: 
The Woman with the Child — the Mother of God with the Redeemer of 
the whole human race. The picture is still somewhat obscure. But 
God will see to it that it will shine more brightly from century to century, 
until it becomes a truth. The ideas of sin, of the death of the soul, of 
grace, of redemption, of Christ, of Mary, shine here for the preacher in 
the brightness of their morning light. The fall through sin is and ever 
remains, exegetically and thematically considered, an inexhaustible 
source for sermons on sin and its consequences and on redemption 
from sin. 

3. The program for the redemption of humanity. Revelation still 
turns directly toward the entire human race. A Saviour of humanity 
is promised. And His light and His grace already begin, in a measure, 
to operate. But fallen man must co-operate. The divine command to 
fallen humanity, which is not devoid of grace, is contained in the word 
of God to Cain: "Sub te erit appetitus peccati: tu dominaberis illius. ,n 

The lust thereof (of sin) shall be under thee and thou shalt have 
dominion over it. Here the preacher will find the great inflexible prin- 
ciple of self-control — which later revelation and especially the Saviour 
preached so urgently and so forcibly, as a conditio sine qua non, — 
on the first page of the Bible: a significant homiletic admonition! Ac- 
cordingly as this was followed were men divided into children of God 
and children of the world. On both sides a culture is developed, the 
earthly even more abundant and richer with the children of the world. 2 

But God is to be victorious ! Grace and free will are at our disposal : 
conquer yourself! — such is the watchword. 

4. The moral ruin of humanity and its deepest cause. In the ponder- 
ing and scheming of the world the very vivid and the clear idea of God 
did not die out so rapidly. Idolatry was still unknown to the youthful 
generation: yet the thought of God did not control its life. As Genesis 
indicates, and the letter to the Romans in the depth of its commentary 
of Genesis clearly announces, it was universal lukewarniness and indiffer- 
ence toward the creator of nature and of the supernatural which was the 
first cause of the imminent ruin. Herein the preacher may recognize 
an invaluable admonition. Humanity — naturally entirely dependent 
1 Gen. 4: 7. 2 Gen. 4: 5, 6. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 113 



upon God and supernaturally called by God to a mysterious destiny — ■ 
to the beatific vision and happiness in Him — is on the road to ruin if it 
does not honor God, if the thought of God does not control it. The 
creature — in all its fibers — is the property of God. Homo creatus 
est ut laudet Deum, ei reverentiam exhibeat eique serviat, et per haec salvet 
animam suam. If the creature becomes unmindful of God, then the 
fast train of life will become derailed and a dreadful catastrophe will 
follow. Men become wandering stars: sidera errantia quibus procella 
tenebrarum reservata est in aeternum. (Jud. 13.) As already remarked, 
the letter to the Romans describes this ruin in a few lines: Cum cogno- 
vissent Deum, non sicut Deum glorificaverunt aut gratias egerunt; sed 
evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum. . . 
Propter quod tradidit illos Deus in desideria cordis eorum in passiones 
ignominiae. (Rom. 1:21 sqq.) Decrease of religiosity, of divine wor- 
ship, of the thought of God — self -exaltation, and, therefore, a diminu- 
tion of more abundant graces, increase of worldly-mindedness, of 
prejudices, and of errors and of passions, submission to the passions, ruin 
through the passions and the rise of idolatry with all its horrors — such 
is the fatal consequence! 

5. The destruction of the human race by the deluge. The commingling 
of the children of God and the children of the world and the wanton 
voluptuousness, 1 which controlled the human race and ruined it: omnis 
quippe caro corruperat viam suam super terram 2 lead to the first crisis 
of revelation. The punitive pedagogics of God broke in upon humanity 
in a most frightful manner, through the deluge. But it was as much a 
grace as it was a punishment. A better race and an uncorrupted pro- 
genitor is saved in the ark: with him the supernatural spiritual estate 
of the family-revelation is deposited. "The new generation shall not, 
like the first, ever be destroyed on account of sin, and the rainbow in 
the heavens shall be the sign — which with the seven-colored splendor 
shall always remind man of the given pledge. Whoever knows how to 
analyze the extent of this promise, to grasp the various parts in their 
connection, to distinguish between the cause and the effect, will be able 
to comprehend the full sense of that which is comprised, for the human 
race, in the new promise of its God and in the rainbow." 3 But even for 
those who perished, the dreadful catastrophe was not mere ruin. It is 
highly interesting to notice how in later days Holy Scripture throws a 
ray of light into this gruesome night of misfortune. The first letter of 
St. Peter relates (3:20) how the risen Christ preached to the spirits of 
the prisoners of limbo and even to those "which had been some time 
incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of 

. 1 Gen. 6: 2, 12-6: 5; Rom. 1:24, 26, 27. 3 Grimm, Leben Jesu, I. B., p. 7. 

2 Gen. 6: 12 sqq. 



ii4 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Noe, when the ark was a building." Therefore, many were converted 
by perfect contrition in the last moments of the indescribable calamity 
into which they were plunged by the flood. This passage casts a strong 
light upon the crises and catastrophies of the history of the world, upon 
wars, calamities of countries and of peoples, pests, slave-hunting, etc. — 
in times when man in his extreme necessity appeals to God and may be 
saved in extraordinary ways: for grace is always at hand; erat lux vera 
quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc tnundum. 1 (Apol. of 
Schanz, p. 357 sqq.) 

But the preacher will find in the history of the deluge a frightful 
illustration of sin, especially of the sins of the flesh and of the divine 
judgment of sin. The Saviour Himself uses this history as a motive 
of fear of the judgment, which will surprise and destroy sinners. But, 
in the midst of the severe judgment of divine justice, rays of mercy shine 
forth most conspicuously. (Matt. 24: 37-39.) 

6. The first division of the human race. God repeatedly turns 
toward the human race. Aye, God even promises that never more 
shall the race be destroyed as such. But, since the power of sin again 
strives to interfere and threatens to impede revelation in its course, 
pedagogics of divisions and selections appear in order to lead back once 
more all the dispersed and lost sons throughout the whole history of the 
world, provided they be influenced by good will. 

Since sin shows itself again in its rudest and most naked form in 
the family of Noe, and " threatens in a parasitic preponderance of force 
to devour all the better substance," the curse of Ham and the exclusion 
of the Canaanites from the transmission of revelation follows. 2 This curse 
is not really a personal condemnation of all Hamites and Canaanites — 
these will be subject to the particular judgment, but it means the ex- 
clusion of the great progeny from the transmission of revelation and 
from a prominence in the history of the world. We see, upon the one 
side, the divine curse upon sin, which is attacked with great might and 
power, and on the other, the free divine selection of grace, which makes 
those bearers of revelation whom it wills, and to which no impediment 
is put in the way. This is a new homiletic central thought. 

7. The second important division of the race. In spite of the exclusion 
of the Hamites as bearers of revelation, the whole human race was 
plunged once more into perdition. This time the cause was intellectual 
pride, which surpasses all other passions and inclinations. — The building 
of the tower of Babel is a work and a sign of culture without God, of 
politics without God, of a covenant of men and of people without God, 
of historical development in spite of God. 3 God destroys the proud 
work of man, the unity of a Godless culture. He disperses the people, 

1 John 1: 9; see 3: 19. 2 Gen. 9: 24, 27. 8 Gen. 11: 4; Gen. 11: 6. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 115 



He divides their languages and dissolves the arrogant compact of the 
proud. The preacher will here discover, for the first time, the destruc- 
tive judgment upon pride and arrogance, a judgment that percolates 
through the entire revelation, from the fall of the angels to the final 
judgment of the world — deposuit potentes de sede, divites dimisit inanes! 
But He will also spy out the beginning of an education in poverty of 
spirit, which controls the whole Bible, and in the necessity of a Saviour. 
Nations will pass through every possible cultural development and every 
possible terrestrial progress without God the Saviour, and all these 
passages are, as St. Augustin says, merely grandes passus extra viam. 
Poor in spirit these wandering sons will some day return to the Saviour. 
Therefore, the first words of the program of the kingdom of the Redeemer, 
in the sermon on the Mount, with which He opens His lips, are the 
words: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven." — Those are meant who really feel themselves poor in spirit, who 
feel that they need a Saviour, who long for Him and, in sorrow and penance, 
meet Him in order to gain new life. (See pp. 48, 68, 77, etc.) 

8. The exclusiveness and the universality of revelation. The division 
and the rejection of the one undivided race was, like the deluge, not 
only a lesson in punishment, but also a work of grace. Immediately 
after the division followed the selection of Abraham, the creation of a 
chosen people. Revelation had attempted three times to unite with all the 
people: In Adam, with the children of God in primeval days, and in Noe. 
But it was like a brook without a channel. "In Abraham the stream of 
revelation finally finds a regulated bed. Laboriously, but securely, it 
flows from now on — in the chosen people — through the centuries ; 
it grows with every traversed mile until it finally terminates, in the 
fulness of time, in Christ, in the one ocean which, as the universal Church 
of Christ, embraces all countries and people." 1 Here we behold ex- 
clusiveness and universality in an exalted federation. Revelation must 
have a channel through a chosen people. But at some time all generations, 
from Abraham's seed, shall be blessed. "From Abraham, the hitherto 
childless husband of Sara, a great, numerous people will arise: to this 
people of the seed of Abraham the Lord will give the promised land, 
which the Canaanites will inhabit for a time though still smarting under 
the curse; and in this land, out of the midst of this people, the Saviour, 
promised at the very gates of paradise, will come forth, He who ' shall 
crush the head of the serpent.' " 2 The homilist will recognize here with 
astonishment how apparent severity and exclusiveness in the religion of 
revelation are but the fruit of pure wise love. And Holy Scripture will point 
out to him, as a magnificent background of its historical narrative, the 

1 Grimm, Leben Jesu, I. Bd., p. 11. 

2 See Gen. a 12: 26. Grimm, p. 11 sqq. Act. 14, 15. 



n6 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



wondrously woven carpet of the divine plan of the world. From Abra- 
ham on the messianic spark vibrates branch after branch of a mysterious 
parent tree, until finally, in the fulness of time, it looms as a lofty sunrise, 
as the great Orient, the Light of the world. The unity of nations is 
shattered. The several tribes are rejected as bearers of revelation and are 
become prodigal sons in the history of the world. Israel alone is selected. 
But it is merely selected to bring, at some time, salvation to the lost sons 
of the seed of Abraham. Upon this background Holy Scripture depicts 
those touching simple patriarchal pictures which, for all times to come, 
shall reveal to the preachers of the divine word the life of man, now 
according to its most luminous and then again according to its darkest 
sides. Within these parts of the Bible rich golden veins of moral and 
ascetic material and conceptions are found. The Bible opens for this a 
magnificent world of types. Abraham, timely snatched from seductive 
environments, 1 plants his tent in the midst of Canaan. Then follow 
those exalted promises and types of a Redeemer which are painted in a 
singular manner, now upon a golden background, then again upon 
one that is terribly dark in the history of the age, and which point to 
the messianic future. He who has perused, in quiet earnestness, these 
passages of Holy Scripture can say with St. Ambrose: Deambulat 
in paradiso Dominus, quando scripturas lego. Paradisus est Genesis 
liber, in quo pullulant virtutes patriarcharum. 2 (Divine Pragmatics 2. 
Hammurabis.) 

9. Israel' 's first education. After the transmigration of the grand- 
son of Abraham with his sons into Egypt, to Joseph — whose history 
is really a revelation of divine pragmatics in the concrete, but which 
is only really and fully understood when viewed on the background of 
the entire holy historical philosophy of the Bible — Israel developed into 
a great people. During those long days, some joyful and others terribly 
sorrowful, the building material of this chosen people was prepared. Joy 
and honor, but also misery of long duration and overwhelming sufferings 
prepared Israel for its future mission. The preacher may now spy out 
Providence in its most mysterious and secret ways: apparent abandon- 
ment, destruction planned by the enemies, misery and needs of all kinds 
fail to impede the designs of God, who directs all for the best and then, 
for the first time, calls "His Son" out of Egypt. (Compare Matt. 7:15.) 

10. Israel's leaders. The secular figure of Moses stands before us. 

1 Compare Jos. 27: 2. Monotheimus Babylons d. L., Reste der Uroffenbarung in 
ein neues Volk durch Gottes Fuegung eingepnanzt! 

2 St. Ambrose, 1:4, c. 31. Compare also the the extensive exegetical works on 
Genesis; again Schuster-Holzammer, Handbuch zur bibl. Geschichte, n. 140 sqq. 
(See Rom. 4: 11); Abraham's call, n. 137 sqq. Abraham, father of the faithful, 
n. 140 sqq. Abraham and Melchisedech, n. 152. Isaac's birth and sacrifice, n. 170. 
Compare also the Old Testament sermons of Breiteneicher. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 117 



The vocation, the natural and supernatural power, the office and the 
individuality, the greatness and the weakness, the bright and the shady 
side of this man are assumed into the design of God in behalf of Israel. 
By the strength of the slain Easter lamb — the type of Christ, as every 
scientific exegesis of any depth admits — Moses saves Israel, leads it 
through the Red Sea and, amidst innumerable trials, to Mt. Sinai for 
the making of a covenant. The history of Moses and of the people of 
Israel under his direction is a genuine compendium of divine pragmatics 
and dogma, of moral and ascetics, of typology, pedagogics, and pastoral 
theology. Here the words of the Apostle may be most justly applied: 
Scriptura utilis ad docendum, ad arguendum, ad corripiendum, ad erudien- 
dum in justitia. 1 The book of Exodus will always remain an inex- 
haustible fountain for the preacher. We recommend for its homiletic 
conception, as well as for all other books of Moses, the homiletic dis- 
courses of Dr. M. Eberhard, Bishop of Treves (3d edit., Herder, 1898). 

11. Israel's pedagogics. The giving of the law on Mt. Sinai and the 
proclamation and the explanation of the law indicate a grand progress 
in revelation. The law should be an earnest, strict disciplinarian of 
the people and lead them to Christ. To obtain its end and to fulfil 
its mission the people need a clear, definite, minute, and divinely given 
norm: such is the law of the Old Testament. It is primarily a moral 
law which sustains and guides Israel but also awakens within it a con- 
sciousness of sin and the necessity of a redemption. In order that it 
be not destroyed in the confusion of nations and to be able always to 
serve as a secure bed and channel of the stream of revelation Israel 
required a firm constitution which corresponded to its unique task : this 
was supplied by the judicial law. But, above all, Israel was to be God's 
people, which must prepare itself through divine service for the Messiah: 
for this purpose the ceremonial law was announced by God Himself. 
Men, through sin, had lost the idea of God's nearness. But even in the 
idolatry of the pagans, who pictured to themselves and sought in the 
statue, in the idol, a near deity, a sort of longing for a more intimate 
intercourse with God manifested itself. And God satisfied this longing 
through the introduction of the ark of covenant and of the tabernacle: 
Jahve dwells amidst His people and arranges the worship that pleases 
Him and which points in all its rays toward the coming Sun — the 
Messiah of Israel and of all nations, whose image is being constantly 
revealed to the people more distinctly and more clearly. 2 

Thus the Lord took care of Israel: "The Most High divided the 
nations. ... He appointed the bounds of the people. . . . But the 
Lord's portion is His people. He led it about, He taught it, and He 
kept it as the apple of His eye. ... As the eagle enticing her young to 

1 Tim. 3: 16, 17. 2 See Ex. c. 40 and Leviticus. 



n8 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



fly, and hovering over them, He spread His wings, and hath taken His 
people and carried it on His shoulders. The Lord alone was its leader, 
and no strange God." 1 

But time and again were fulfilled the words which we read in Deut. 
32:15: The beloved grew fat and thick and gross, he forsook God who 
made him and departed from God his Saviour. Then those dreadful 
trials and punishments follow, which even there are promised, 2 from 
which, however, a portion of Israel is saved. This is evident in the 
forty years of migration in the desert. With an astounding objectivity 
Holy Scripture describes the faults and the sins of the small and of the 
great, of the people and of their leaders, during this alarming time of 
migration, until a new generation, purified by trials and punishments, 3 
enters amidst a marvelous victory into the land which already shel- 
tered the tombs of its patriarchs. These are the pedagogics which 
Holy Scripture repeatedly manifests: Amidst every downfall and all 
visitations a portion of Israel is purified and saved. 4 

Though the lex veteris testamenti, with its preparatory side, 
became at the death of Christ a lex mortua and, at the destruction 
of Jerusalem and the complete announcement of the Gospel to the 
world, a lex ntortifera, still the moral law remained and was brought 
to its perfection by Christ, and the ceremonial and the judicial prepara- 
tory laws were fulfilled: non veni solvere legem, sed adimplere. Therefore, 
the law of Moses contains a perfect wealth of most exalted precepts, 
of examples, of deep-meaning conceptions, of noble casuistics, of surpris- 
ingly social viewpoints for the preacher, so that the comparatively little 
use made of it in the light of the New Testament is very deplorable 
indeed. At the same time, the reader of the Holy Scripture enters here 
into a new world of images and of types which, when moderately applied 
and accompanied by a good explanation, disclose a great treasure of 
homiletic thought. 5 We would here remind the homilist of the book of 
Deuteronomy, in the spirit of St. Ambrose,who adds to the already above 
quoted words : Deambulabat in paradisoDominus, quando divinas scripturas 
lego: paradisus-Deuteronomium, in quo germinant legis praecepta. 6 By 
the sublime repetition of the Law in Deuteronomy the Old Testament 
rises to its most lofty heights. 7 In none of its historical books is it so 
closely allied to the New Testament. The great leader of Israel knows 
that his end is nigh. A new generation, which matured during the years 
of migration, appears at the partition between hope and fulfilment. 

1 Deut. 32: 11 sqq. 2 Deut. 33: 19 sqq. 3 See the Book of Joshua. 

4 Compare Eberhard, Homiletische Vortraege ueber das zweite, dritte, vierte, und 
fuenfte Buch Moses. Addresses 8-33, especially 26. 

5 No doubt, a mistake could be made by using the Old Testament too freely. 

6 Ambrose 1: 4, c. 31. 

7 See Eberhard, Homilien ueber die B. B. Moses. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



The entire pragmatics of the past points forcibly to this moment: a 
magnificent view into the future opens up. The last discourses of 
Moses, which he delivered in the eleventh month of the fortieth year, 
therefore of the last year of the migration, and which really fill this book 
as well as the additions of later inspired writers, are completely rilled 
with these exalted thoughts and the conclusions following therefrom and 
which penetrate deeply into life itself. Abraham was a man of faith 
— pater omnium fidelium, as the Apostle most thoughtfully designates 
him — who in faith and the hope resulting therefrom in the Messiah 
leads these generations. Moses is the proclaimer of the Law of God, the 
pedagogue in the fear of God which schools the people under the Law, the 
divinely appointed disciplinarian for the coming Messiah. But in 
Deuteronomy — in the evening of the life of the great leader of Israel, 
when the near promised land sends its greeting like a new aurora of the 
Israelitish history, across the lines — all things elevate themselves 
toward the highest and the most exalted of all there is in religion and in 
revelation, into a clear and the pure light of love. In great and over- 
powering lines Moses draws, once more, the history of the guidance of 
Israel. It is a glowing picture of divine love (c. 1-4) : My people, what 
have I done to thee? What more could I do for thee? This is the divine 
thought which permeates the whole. Then Moses repeats the Deca- 
logue in a solemn manner, this irrevocable and unique lawbook of the 
Old and of the New Testament, this unapproachable popularization of 
the divine will, which also belongs in substance to our sermon and 
catechesis. He points to the reciprocity which the unbounded love of 
God demands of the Israel of the Old and of the New Law, of the entire 
human race which God has conducted so admirably and still desires to 
lead (c. 5). And, as if to lift the veil and the cloud which are resting 
upon the Old Testament, Moses unfolds the deepest and the inmost spirit 
of the divine law of the Old as well as of the New Testament : a veritable sun- 
burst of revelation appears when the address of Moses begins solemnly to 
announce the principal commandment: Hear, 0 Israel, the Lord our 
God is one God. Thou shall love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and 
with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I 
command thee this day, shall be in thy heart: And thou shalt tell them to thy 
children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking 
on thy journey, sleeping and rising (c. 6 1 ). Then the sunlight of the 
principal commandment dissolves into rays of the several commandments 
and precepts: the deviation and the separation from all that seduces 
and leads astray is emphasized, and the first characteristic of the servant 
of God is sharply defined: obedience: homo creatus est, ut Deo serviat 
(c. 7-1 1). These thoughts are confirmed by the decisive either-or, which 



1 Deut. 6:4, 5, 6 sqq. 



120 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



now puts the address before the eyes of the hearers that are troubled: 
the blessing of obedience — the curse of disobedience (c. n). And yet, 
not a step on the road of obedience is possible without God's pardon and 
grace. Therefore, Moses directs the people toward the great place of 
sacrifice which, with its worship, points to the sacrifice of the New Testa- 
ment (c. 12-17). But the religion of God must also take into account the 
public social conditions and transform all things into the light of faith 
and hope of the Messiah (c. 17-20 sqq). If the imperfection of the Old 
Law still makes itself vividly effective in all these things, nevertheless the 
dawn of Christian social thoughts shines through it (c. 24-27). The book 
of Deuteronomy now hastens on to its conclusion, which is numbered 
amongst the grandest that Holy Scripture contains. Once more Moses 
puts the fearful alternative — either , or — before the eyes of his people : 
In chapters 27 and 28 we read the ordinances of that striking ceremony 
which is designed to announce, after the entrance into the promised land, 
the benediction and the curse of the Law before all the people on Mount 
Garizim and Hebal (compare the fulfilment of this by Joshua, c. 8). 
Upon the background of these pictures of light and shade the sublime 
renovation of the covenant appears (c. 29). All these chapters, from 23 to 
33, serve as a prototype and an example for the preacher to conceive a 
renovation of the life of the congregation and of the nation through the 
word of God. Again he will find the idea of law and of grace, of obe- 
dience and the wandering away, and of ruin and conversion, a moving 
peroration. The temporal visitations and the religious temporal voca- 
tion of Israel as a nation appear in the foreground indeed, but in the 
background the eternal thoughts shine forth which mark the whole, 
and the interior personal sanctification of the individual is strongly 
emphasized; it is, of course, at the same time secured by a vivid partici- 
pation in Israel's temporal vocation (29). The thirtieth chapter is the 
canticle of fidelity to the Law, the admirable accord wherein all things 
harmonize in this: Be true to your God! Then Moses delivers the written 
Law to the priests and to the ancients. Josue is solemnly proclaimed 
the successor of Moses. Faith, fear, hope, and love, with all their 
blessings and duties, should now grow and flourish in the Church of God, 
under this God-given authority (31). Now, after the entire dogma, 
moral, and the pragmatics of the Law are unfolded into a grand picture, 
the divinely borne soul of Moses rises to the chanting of a canticle of 
ineffable joy and to an unfolding of the entire biblical view of the world, 
which terminates finally into a magnificent prophecy of the leader of 
Israel concerning Israel's history which he describes, in grand lines, as 
the way to the Messiah, amidst all the confusion of nations, through curse 
and through blessings (c. 32, 33). A later hand, inspired by God, added 
the conclusion: the death of Moses on Mt. Nebo. From these few lines 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 121 



shine forth, as possibly from no other picture, the immeasurable love 
and inflexible justice of God, who raises His instruments as high as the 
heavens above humanity and through them executes designs and ideas 
which are equally as high as the heavens above the designs of men, but 
who also reproves and punishes and reforms the frailties and the wretch- 
edness of His own, since nothing unholy may exist in His presence, and 
He Himself finds stains even in His favorites, but whom He cleanses 
of these drosses. "And the Lord said to Moses: This is the land, for 
which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy 
seed. Thou hast seen it with thine eyes, but shalt not pass over to it. 
And Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, 
by the commandment of the Lord." 1 

He who ever sat before the tomb of Julius II in the church of San 
Pietro in Vincoli, in Rome, and contemplated the huge statue of Moses 
by Michelangelo cannot refrain from making a comparison between 
the impression received there with the feeling that possesses the soul of 
every one who has read the books of Moses and stops to meditate on 
the last lines of Deuteronomy. A gigantic picture arises before the 
soul, around which all that is grand in nature and in the supernatural 
unites into one whole, into the ideal of the world as it is given by revela- 
tion. It has been said that the tomb of Julius II and Michelangelo's 
statue of Moses proclaim the gigantic spirit of modern times. The Moses 
of Deuteronomy and of the first books of the Holy Scriptures in general has, 
no doubt, a special mission for our modern age. The latter seeks and 
forebodes an exaltation of the type: man, compared to the superhuman. 
Moses points to the genuine and true superman, the man who, with all 
his gifts and talents, through the possession and the transformation of 
grace, of faith, and of love combines within himself the natural and the 
supernatural of the ideal of God and of the world, and by operation and 
effort strives to attain his temporal and an eternal end. The modern 
world attempts to expand the personal ego in the hearts of humanity, 
to spread the radii of the personal ego that we may learn to love human- 
ity and fight, suffer, and die for it. Moses is the first proclaimer of 
the natural and of the supernatural love of God which can really pursue 
and attain this. And all his efforts point to the one Redeemer, who, as 
God-man, accomplished this in the fullest sense and by whose grace and 
love we are also enabled to walk in the same footsteps. The modern 
world aims at a homogeneous view of the world, a conception of the 
world in the sense of monism, as it expresses it, and through it sinks into 
materialism and pantheism. Moses, during the whole of antiquity, 
was the only clear proclaimer of the idea of the creation and of the grand 

1 Deut. 34 : 4, 5. See also Numbers 20: 10 sqq., 27. Deut. 32: 48-52. Compare 
Eberhard, Homiletische Vortraege ue. BB. Mos. 23, Vortrag. 



i22 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



combination of the universe with its author, the proclaimer of the one 
eternal law which extends from the atom to the highest spirits, the 
gigantic spirit who announces the union of the natural and of the super- 
natural, of knowledge and of faith, of human power and of grace, of the 
individual and of the social, of pragmatic exclusiveness and universality 
in the guidance of men and of nations, and points as a pedagogue 
to Christ. This Moses represents the genuine and the true monism: 
the harmonious natural and supernatural union of creation with the 
Creator. 

Yes, Moses, and with him the entire Bible, approaches the modern world 
with a conviction and faith in a personal God, with a revelation of this personal 
God in the divine proofs of nature, and in the divine deeds of the super- 
natural — and with the law of love of this personal God, whom to serve is 
to reign: He Who Is, sends me to you, the Lord God! (Exodus). And 
in the personal submission of the creature to the one personal Creator 
lies the remedy for the wounds of our modern times. 

We have described the trend of the ideas of the book of Deuteronomy 
more minutely because, as a repetition of the Law and of revelation 
and as a compendium of religion and revelation, it becomes, as it were, 
Israel's book of exercises for the renovation of its life, and because, there- 
fore, it will always remain a sermon-book for the homilist of the New 
Testament. May these thoughts create a desire for homiletic consid- 
erations of this inexhaustible fountain of sermons! This book lies 
within the focus of the principal themes of all sermons. 

12. Israel's period of storms and distresses. We designate as such 
the time of the Judges and of Samuel and Saul. Whilst Israel is battling 
for existence, fettered by its enemies and its own sins and again released, 
grand figures of exalted characteristic features appear upon a barbarous 
background. 

It is then that the figure of Samuel looms up lovely and tender, 
through whose hands the golden threads of divine providence glide and 
are woven into all the dark vicissitudes of the time. The cry of the 
people for a king God takes up into His own designs, and in a resplen- 
dent light and then again amidst a most terrible gloom the first king arises 
and disappears like a meteor. But the divinely established kingdom 
does not die out — it is to be perpetuated in David. There exists 
scarcely a more touching illustration of the truth of how, amidst human 
faults and crimes, amidst the dark shadows and disparities of people 
and their leaders, the illuminating rays of divine revelation always con- 
tinue to penetrate triumphantly, and, though obscured, yet never 
disappear, than precisely during this time of the judges, painted by 
the inspired pen of God-sent historiographers who are without any 
personal distinction. The divine eagle carries likewise the wild, dis- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 123 



orderly, and disturbed flight of the young eagles upon its pinions and, 
though punishing, sustains them. The ninth and the tenth centuries 
of the Christian Church may probably be compared herewith. We will 
select several characteristics therefrom. 

Whilst the book of the Judges depicts the actual period of the 
storms and distresses of Israel, during which men of God stand forth 
prominently as leaders and judges of Israel like firm rocks and real 
lighthouses, the books of Samuel (First and Second Book of Kings) 
unfold the formation of the reign of the prophets and kings and of the 
entire Israelitish theocracy amidst the raging storms and the sunlike 
brightness of the age. The book of the Judges is a book of consola- 
tion for the preacher. It shows how God, in spite of the attacks of 
the enemies and of the faults of the friends of religion, protects His 
people and His Church, and how, in darkest days, He knows how and 
where to find His servants. But the books of Samuel are, in a much 
higher sense, the books for priest and preacher. These books paint 
in a historical ante-chamber (c. 1-13), as it were, the last judges, Heli 
and Samuel, and the figure of the latter already plays, like a glorious 
morning dawn, around the approaching prophetic mission. They 
conduct us into the formation and the history of the Israelitish 
kingdom by recounting the history of Saul (I Kings), and of the 
grand development of the kingdom of David down to the end of 
his reign. The books of the Judges and of Samuel develop a magnificent 
climax of an ever-increasing splendor of the picture created by the 
evolution of the religion of the Old Testament. The barbarous age of 
the judges is followed by a pure, bright portrait of Samuel, which marks 
the critically objective historical writing of the Bible, in grand majesty 
and most tender loveliness, upon the dark foil of the history of Heli and 
of his sons. Most fittingly does the present reading of these books in 
the breviary begin with the octave of Corpus Christi, most certainly an 
instructive hint for the preacher, (p. 520.) Around the tabernacle of 
Silo and the ark of covenant are grouped a number of sharp antitheses, 
but at the same time full of significance: pictures of the most touching 
and tender piety as well as of the most wretched lukewarmness, of the 
purest service in the Holy of Holies and of the most reckless sacrilege 
imaginable (I Sam. 1-4); pictures of a noble education furnished by 
God and God-fearing families, with blessings from on high, and with 
the most repulsive ill-breeding followed by most frightful visitations 
(I Sam., c. 2, 3, 4); pictures of benediction and of love which emanate 
from the sacred worship and its holy places, and pictures of punishment 
and of horror which follow indifference, usurpation, and sacrilege in the 
divine service (I Sam.). From the second book of Samuel and also 
from the booklet of Ruth there gradually grows the kingdom of Israel, 



i2 4 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



which the people longed for, at first, in the beginning, against God's 
will (I Sam., c. 8 and 9), but which God, in His inscrutable wisdom, had 
already assumed into His own designs, and which He now places in the 
center thereof. Saul begins a glorious career, but perishes, as the 
bearer of the kingdom, like an extinct comet, through disobedient self- 
glorification (I Sam., c. 14-16, c. 18-31), as a warning for all future times. 
From the second book of Samuel, in connection with Book I of Chronicles 
(Paralipomenon) and the book of Psalms, the figure of David appears. 
From the book of the Judges to the end of the books of the Kings the 
grand history of divine providence and the pragmatic disclosure of the 
plan of the world appear ever more convincingly and overwhelmingly 
in the foreground. These few sketches will point out to the preacher 
the rich treasures of the books of Samuel and of the Kings and of the 
Chronicles. 

13. The grandeur of Israel wider David. David can only be com- 
pared to Abraham and to Moses. Abraham received the first promise 
of the land and of the history of revelation for his seed. David secured 
ultimately the possession of the holy land. Moses gave the law. David 
introduced its full practise and its comprehension by the people as a 
moral, judicial, and ceremonial law. Henceforth it operated fully and 
entirely throughout the holy land as a teacher, pointing to Christ. 

In the person of David Holy Scripture enriches us with a fulness 
of characteristic features which possess for the preacher a high homiletic 
value. In the Psalms of David the Scripture discloses to him who prays 
and preaches the inner spirit of the law which Moses delivered and 
David enforced and ingrafted, and which the Saviour was to fulfil. The 
Psalms are precious vases into which the Holy Ghost deposited the 
golden grains and jewels of prayer and of the word of God, not only for 
the time of the Old Testament, but for all times. The Psalms are open, 
golden shells into which we also deposit our religious meditations, peti- 
tions, sighs and sorrows, adorations, thanksgivings and jubilations, 
in order that the angels may carry them into the presence of the Most 
High. The literal sense supplies here the foundation. The typical 
sense is in many psalms irrefutably established. It also lies in the very 
intention of the Psalms that they be interpreted, applied, and considered 
differently, without any artificial mannerism. The God-given formu- 
laries of meditations and prayers are not inflexible bonds, but channels 
through which living waters find their course. Liturgy has made the 
Psalms daily prayers for Church and priest, and the bearer of its most 
exalted affections and sentiments. Thus the Psalms, especially through 
the liturgy, have become for us an excellent sermon-book, in which the 
spirit of the Old and of the New Law is manifested, and they mightily 
incite the affections of the preacher and his practical applications, and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 125 



ought to control and foster them. We take advantage of this occasion 
to refer the homilist to the extraordinarily fruitful commentary on the 
Psalms by Thalhofer and Wolter (Psallite sapienter), which refers in an 
extensive manner to their liturgical use, and also to Schegg, who ex- 
plains the literal sense very profoundly and attractively. After David 
had enforced the law and had organized Israel most thoroughly the 
spirit of the law, the inwardness of the religion of God, manifested itself 
by means of the Psalms like the rushing waters of gurgling brooks. 
Since these psalms are inspired by the Spirit of God Himself, they become, 
according to God's wise providence, both in the Old and most effectively 
also in the New Law, a school of interior, deep religious life and, there- 
fore, especially a school for preachers and for all who have the care of 
souls. 1 

With the life and the vicissitudes of David we enter once more into 
the exalted world of types and of figures of Christ, which constantly 
become sharper and more pronounced. Even the fallen David appears, 
in his sorrowful repentance, as a complete figure of the suffering Messiah 
who beareth and taketh away the sins of the world. These pragmatic 
relations also will excite fruitful thoughts in the preacher. We can here 
merely refer to the richness from afar. David is not only a type, 
but also a prophet : his messianic psalms describe the Saviour in a manner 
in which also the preacher of the New Testament loves to show the 
greatness, the love, and the suffering of the Saviour, in the light of these 
psalms. (Compare f.i., the offices of Christmas and Epiphany, the 
ecclesiastical thoughts of Advent contained in the Introits, the grad- 
uals, offertories, and communion, in the verses of the mass and of the 
antiphones of the breviary, the liturgy of Holy Week, etc.) 

David finally becomes king, chosen and anointed by God. David's 
throne is promised an eternity: for the Messiah is to be a son of David 
and to take possession of David's throne. And when, in due time, the 
Messiah is to establish His kingdom, His Church, and to deliver to His 
vicar and the supreme shepherd the leadership of this kingdom, the 
pasturing of the sheep and of the lambs, then the Pope is to take posses- 
sion, in the biblical sense, of the throne of David as vicar of Him Who 
hath ascended to heaven and Who sitteth at the right hand of the 
Father, unto the very end of time, when all things will have attained 
their end and Christ will reign eternally in glory. Thus are the words 
of the angel to be understood : 2 et dabit illi Dominus Deus sedem David 
patris ejus et regnabit in domo Jacob in aeternum et regni ejus non erii finis. 
(See Dan. 7, 14. Mic. 4, 7.) Thus the kingdom and the royal life 

1 Compare f.i., Dr. J. Schmitt, Psalm 118, zur Betrachtung und Besuchung des 
Allerheiligsten, erklaert und verwendet. Freiburg, Herder, 1901. Note the preface. 
Compare also Porta Sion, v. Ecker. 2 Luke. 1: 32, 33. 



126 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of David are entirely illumined by the rays of the messianic light: from 
David proceeds a new, though oftentimes, a clouded course of the sun 
toward the Christ. (See the genealogy of Matt. 1:1-17, also Grimm, 
"Leben Jesu," Vol. I, c. 6, der Stammbaum Jesu, p. 186 £f. and 206 
£f., and Vol. II, c. 5, der Menschensohn, Sohn Gottes, Stammbaum 
nach Lucas, p. 137-174.) 

In David all great things coalesce, as the bearer of the revelation of 
the Old Testament. He is Israel's deliverer, law-giver, prophet, king, 
and royal priest. 1 

Personally David is a soldier-child with his faults and virtues, rich 
in exalted characteristic features, tainted with great human frailties 
and many minor faults. But in the days of David there looms up 
magnificently the fundamental law of the divine plan of the world: free 
selection of grace, not the legal claim of flesh and blood, determines the 
bearer of revelation, and even the dark deeds and the sins of these 
bearers will not impede the revelation, which hastens onward to Christ. 
But only contrition and repentance are favored by happiness. Some- 
thing of the great evangelical fundamental principle: " Blessed are the 
poor in spirit," becomes audible. Thus the history of David becomes 
a real treasury for the preacher. It guarantees, according to the just 
described homile tic-pragma tic explanation, exceedingly rich materials 
for the cultivation and the use of the preacher. Up to most recent 
times, moreover, the person and the history of David were extensively 
treated in a homiletic manner: See Breiteneicher's "Predigten iiber 
das Alte Testament." Schmitz, Weihbischof von Koln, " David, der 
Mann der Hoffnung auf Gott." Koln, 1899. 

14. Israel — a kingdom of peace under Solomon. If revelation con- 
quered amidst barbarous conflicts, it now shows its victorious superi- 
ority also amidst culture in the days of peace. Israel was to come in 
touch with most of the nations of culture and diffuse luminary rays of 
truth among them. Therefore, it itself should first attain a high degree 
of culture. The time of Solomon was, as it were, a preparatory school 
for this world- vocation. The true religion appears in a resplendent 
setting of earthly peace and high culture. 

Israel's exclusiveness and patriarchal singularity is not its own aim, 
but only means to the end. Therefore, revelation forms itself, in the 
r course of events, into a flourishing evolution of culture during the days of 
Solomon. Solomon's life and writings proclaim constantly, in the midst 
of these glorious times, as did David in the days of conflict, the most 
glorious hope for the house and for the people: the thought of the 

1 See Grimm. Leben Jesu, Vol. II, c. 6. David Vorbild des messianischen 
Priesterkoenigs p. 153 £f. David's Priestertum p. 156 ff., Die Linie Natan ohne 
Thron, 160 ff. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 127 



Messiah and the preparation for Him. But Solomon, with his people, 
falls into the pits and upon the rocks of a high culture. The full joys of 
culture and open intercourse with the pagans bring great destruction 
in the evening of Solomon's life, to the leader and the people. 

Solomon's life, his deeds, his writings 1 and after-effects and his sins, 
considered as a whole, produce an impression of a series of thoughts and 
principles which have a special significance for the modern preacher. 

(a) Religion and culture are not enemies, rather friends: Nature and 
grace should be our guides. Religious life, in the form and upon princi- 
ples of a noble culture, is really a type of the richness of the heavenly 
life with God. 2 

(b) The supernatural builds upon the natural, supernatural wisdom 
unites most harmoniously with natural wisdom: both emanate from 
God. 3 

(c) But the highest duty and the honor and the happiness of a people 
consist in divine worship. There is scarcely a more exalted illustration 
of happiness and joy, of true divine worship, of the union of a people 
with its God, than is found in some of the accounts of Holy Scripture 
in the life of Solomon: Compare, f.i., Ill Kings, c. 8, II Paral., c. 6. 
The various offices of the dedication of churches and of the Translatio 
Almae Domus Lauretanae will reveal these splendid thoughts to the 
preacher. 

(d) Culture and human wisdom alone will never satisfy the soul of man. 
They create an after-taste of pessimism. God alone suffices. Verba 
Ecclesiastae, filii David regis Jerusalem: vanitas vanitatum et omnia 
vanitas I — Finem loquenti pariter audiamus : Deum time : et mandata ejus 
observa, hoc est totus homo: et cuncta quae fiunt, adducet Deus in judicium 
pro omni errato, sive bonum, sive malum illud sit* The most brilliant 
culture without God and the fear of God, aye, one that is not Godless, 
but, nevertheless, worldly, without any intimate relation to God, is 
merely an extravagant frame and no picture to enclose. The life and 
the vicissitudes of Solomon illustrate, in a drastic manner, the unique 
ideas of the book of Ecclesiastes, in which the gloomy sentiments of 
pessimism encircle the golden splendor of culture, whilst, at the same 
time, the indifferent attacks of the temptations of epicureanism are dras- 

1 Proverbs, Canticle of Canticles and Ecclesiastes contain the Solomonic wisdom. 
The Kohelet (Preacher-Gatherer of maxims), though not composed by Solomon, is, 
nevertheless, a further development of Solomonic wisdom; at the same time Kohelet 
takes an indirect position against the encroachment of Greek wisdom and culture: 
it reports supplements and criticizes. See Zapletal, Das Ruch Kohelet. Freiburg, 
Universitaetsbuchhandlung, 1905. 

2 Compare, for instance, the Books of Kings, see likewise the Encyclical, on the 
Rosary, of 1893, III. p. 

3 See the Proverbs. . 4 Eccles. 1, 2, and 12, 13, 14. 



128 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



tically indicated, until the fear of God, like the rising sun, illuminates all 
things and gives to everything its real significance. In connection with 
this, compare the entire tendency of the thoughts of Ecclesiastes and 
with it the contents of the book of Job, which unfolds the problem of 
life and of suffering and of the vicissitudes of men, in good fortune and 
misfortune. For a study of this we recommend: "Das Problem des 
Leidens in der Moral," by Dr. Keppler, Herder, 1894. 

(e) But supreme goodness and happiness consist in the peace of the 
soul with God, through the Messiah. Solomon's better days are a glorious 
image of the wealth of this happiness and of that grace and happiness of 
which the Canticle of Canticles is a most unique song. To this, however, 
Solomon's fall forms a unique contrast, though there flickers a mysteri- 
ous glimmer of hope toward the end of Solomon's life, which points 
toward contrition. The Ecclesiastes may be thus interpreted. 

15. Israel's split and ruin. Solomon's fall was followed by its 
punishment; but for David's sake and for the Messiah's, the throne of 
promise is not to perish. 

The ten tribes tear themselves loose. This alone would really not 
have accomplished their ruin. Had they persevered upon the road 
indicated by the prophet and remained faithful to the sanctuary of 
Jerusalem after the political separation, they would, even then, have 
accomplished their task. But, since they apostatized from God and 
the Temple and embraced idolatry and pagan life, they marched on to 
their ruin. Yet, in spite of this, great prophets, sent by God, arose 
within the realm of these tribes, who, amidst the marvelous dispositions 
of the divine plan of the world, secure punishments and blessings, save 
a portion of Israel which is of good will and which becomes, even for 
the pagan world beyond, a leader and educator. In the realm itself the 
split constantly increases. The punishment for this infidelity grew into 
a deportation from which the ten tribes never returned as a people, 
though here God's grace likewise accomplishes great things in behalf of 
individuals and of groups in foreign lands (compare the singularly beau- 
tiful account in the book of Tobias), and among the mixed population 
that remained. History furnishes here deep views into the designs of 
God. The punishment is crushing. Yet the favor of God passes anew 
into all divine visitations, effecting salvation for Juda, for the divided 
Israel, and creating, even in the land of the pagans, oftentimes friendly 
relations with men of good will. (Tobias 13: 4.) The history of the 
divided Israel contains some things truly marvelous. There exists no 
more convincing proof against pastoral pessimism than this. 

In the midst of the rejected land the reign of prophecy rises to its 
sublimest height in Elias and Eliseus. With Jonah, Elias was counted 
for a time among the pessimists of the Old Law. Now on Mt. Horeb 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 129 



and in the desert he receives from God Himself the greatest pastoral and 
pragmatic revelations which have ever been given under the sun to a 
child of man. The chapters 17-19, 22 of the third (first) book of Kings, 
and the chapters 1-14 of the fourth (second) are genuine and true pas- 
torals for the preacher and the pastor. Elias had despaired of Israel and 
of the success of his vocation. (Ill Kings 19:3, 4.) An angel awakens 
and strengthens the pessimist sleeping in the shade of the juniper- tree 
of the desert, and he commands him to undertake the great journey unto 
the mount of the Lord, Horeb, where God had appeared to Moses (II 
Moses 32: 22). And when Elias, by the command of the Lord, stood 
upon Mt. Horeb, a great and strong wind arose which overthrew moun- 
tains and broke the rocks into pieces, and after the storm an earthquake, 
and after the earthquake came a fire : and the Lord was not in the wind, 
nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire (19: n sqq.). And after the angel 
had revealed to him the presence of God in the gentle whistling of the 
wind, and Elias had been rebuked for his acts and disposition (19:13, 
14, 15), then he recognized the wonderful love and grace of the Lord 
which, if it punishes, does so merely to save. Amidst all the divine 
visitations which the Eternal God inflicted upon the impious, the Lord 
reserved for Himself " seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have 
not been bowed before Baal" (19:18). Pessimism now takes its flight. 
With renewed strength Elias is sent on his mission. Eliseus is called 
as his colaborer (19:19). Elias is to go among the pagans even, and 
there to anoint instruments for the Lord's penal pedagogics (19:15). 
The fire of the enkindled wrath now becomes a flame of holy love and 
zeal for souls. And though the prophet must act again as an instrument 
and proclaimer of divine punishment, love never wearies nor does it ever 
despair. God can awaken children of Abraham from the very stones. 
And this task John the Baptist is to fulfil at the first coming of the 
Messiah and Elias personally again, in the fullest sense (see Luke 1:17; 
Matt. 17:11-14), before the second coming in behalf of the entire Jewish 
people. When Israel's ruin had become most dismal and the inhabitants 
of Juda looked with contempt upon the punished land, then Isaias, to 
the great surprise of his contemporaries, suddenly announces that this 
land is not entirely excluded from the designs of God: aye, out of this 
very land of darkness and seated in the shadow of death and, especially, 
out of the despised and the erring tribe of Zebulon and of Naphtali, 
where there is found a pagan-Israelitish mixed people, the Messiah is 
to come forth: there shall be the field of His action — of Him who is 
the Light of the world (Isa. 9:1). Even during the time when the ten 
tribes were languishing in exile an inspired writer points to the illumi- 
nating figure of Tobias amidst the dark history and gives us a touching 
case of the beneficent disposition of divine providence in small and 



130 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



great things. This will serve for all times as a beautiful picture of the 
life of the faithful adherents of the Church of the Lord amidst other 
sects and of the influence upon these and upon the faithful, during the 
dispersion of Christian people, by a godly life. But when the fulness of 
time had actually dawned and the Saviour, driven out of Judea, unfolded 
His great deeds in Galilee — then the Evangelist Matthew recalls these 
wonderful designs of God in behalf of this land, of which an Elias had 
already begun to despair, whereas the love of God never had abandoned 
it: Jesus secessit in Galilaeam et r dicta civitate Nazareth venit et habitavit 
in Capharnaum maritima in finibus Zabulon et Nephtalim, ut adimplere- 
tur quod dictum est per Isaiani prophetam: terra Zabulon et terra Neph- 
talim, via maris trans Jordanem, Galilaea Gentium, populus, qui sedebat 
in tenebris vidit lucem magnam, et sedentibus in regione umbrae mortis lux 
orta est eis. 1 And again, in the apparently entirely abandoned Samaria 
and Galilee, in the midst of the land of the Samaritans itself, the Lord 
gathered a great harvest (John 4:40). There, at Jacob's well, His 
memorable conversation with the Samaritan woman took place, in which 
He emphasizes sharply the truth and the unity of the religion of the Old 
Law, but at the same time permits the universal love of the Redeemer 
of the world to shine as brightly as the sun. Samaria "had brought 
Elias to the brink of despair, but it had also occasioned that uniquely 
beautiful revelation of divine love on Mt. Horeb, in the strength of 
which Elias reassumed his task with renewed courage. In Samaria, at 
Jacob's well, at the beginning of His activity, the immeasurable love of 
the Redeemer shone forth, and it penetrated Judea and Samaria and 
Galilee and the whole world by its rays, and the Samaritans, after the 
visit of the Saviour, gave expression to their joy in these beautiful 
words: Et scimus quia hie est vere S abator Mundi! (John 4: 42). 

Compare the revelation in the soft whistling of the vernal wind 
on Horeb and the sending back of Elias to Samaria and to Galilee and 
even among the pagans, to the revelation of the love of the Saviour 
manifested to the Samaritan woman and to the Samaritans at Sichar, 
when He is about to begin His activity. Draw parallel lines between the 
pastoral on Mt. Horeb, given to Elias and Eliseus (III Kings 19: 9-21), 
and that marvelous pastoral hour of the Saviour spent with His disciples 
at Jacob's well, while the happy woman hastens into the city (John 
4: 30,46) to announce the Messiah. Pointing to the Samaritans who 
come out of the city toward Jesus and to the millions of the poor in 
spirit who, of all nations and grades of culture, after them are driven by 
the necessity of salvation and forced by God's grace to the Saviour and 
to His one and only Church, the Redeemer of the world addresses the 
Apostles and all future preachers in these words: Levate capita vestra et 

1 Math. 4: 12-17; Is- 9- 1 ' 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 131 

videte regiones, quia albae sunt jam ad messem (John 4:35). Thus often- 
times many are ripe for the harvest which we still think far off (John 4: 35). 
The preacher, therefore, should never despair, never become a pessimist. 
But in the same place the Saviour teaches that the fruits of a sermon 
that are gathered are often prepared by a long divine education and 
by uncounted laborers of former days: ego misi vos tnetere, quod non 
labor astis. Alii labor averunt et vos in labor es eorum introistis. 

Thus the pedagogics concerning Israel and Galilee point, in a uniquely 
consoling manner, to that love and grace which were revealed to the 
fleeing prophet on Mt. Horeb amidst the softly whispering vernal winds, 
and which the Saviour Himself had described to the Samaritan woman 
in the image of living waters and as a great gift of God (John 4: 10, 11), 
and which He shortly before had announced to the cultured Nicodemus 
as a renewed second life, the supernaturalness and loveliness of which 
He depicted in expressions which very vividly recall Mt. Horeb : Spiritus 
ubi vult spiral ; et vocem ejus audis, sed nescis unde venial aut quo vadat : 
sic est omnis qui natus est ex spiritu (John 3:8). 

From all the pedagogics and pragmatics concerning Samaria and 
Galilee the love of the redeeming God shines forth, who finds everywhere 
members of His kingdom, even there where one would despair of the 
tribes, the people, and of the nations. On the other hand, it is precisely 
this pedagogy concerning Samaria and Galilee that proclaims with a 
most decisive clearness the firm principle of the truth and of the unity 
of the revealed religion and of the Church. By the organs sent by God, 
and not without them, were the works of God, even in the Old Law, per- 
formed and perfected in Samaria and Galilee. Of Tobias, who was 
protected by a most extraordinary divine providence, fidelity to the true 
temple of Jerusalem is especially and most sharply emphasized at a time 
"when all turned to the golden calves, which Jeroboam had made," 
and likewise his fidelity to the Law during the captivity, "when all ate 
of the meats of the Gentiles" (Tob. 1:5, 12). Salus ex Judaeis est, 
says also the Saviour at Jacob's well, in His conversation of genuine 
liberality and universal messianic charity which He had with the Sa- 
maritan woman: vos adoratis, quod nescitis: nos adoramus quod scirnus 
(John 4:22). Salus ex ecclesia est, is only a continuation of the same 
principle. This Church, however, is a universal Church, which would 
convert all into adoratores Patris in spiritu et veritate (John 4: 23), which 
never despairs of her mission of pastoration, and even many who stand 
afar off, who without their own fault know her not, are counted by her 
as her spiritual children. Rich indeed are the homiletic suggestions 
which are presented to the preacher by an insight into the history of 
Galilee, contained in the Holy Scripture. 

16. The age after David and Solomon. Between David and his 



132 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



descendant, the Messiah, there elapsed fully a thousand years. The 
long history of David and of Solomon shows, on the one hand, a con- 
stantly increasing and magnificent development of the thought of the 
Messiah and of the preparation for the Messiah. The latter concentrates 
especially around Juda and the throne of David. On the other hand, 
there appears also a development of apostasy, the ruination of the 
entire people. At first the ten tribes tore themselves away, not only 
from the political, but also from the religious unity, and they were lost 
as a people, though several individual groups were saved. Then followed 
the deportation of the rest, even of the kingdom of Juda, under its kings. 
This deportation was inflicted as a punishment. It finds favor once 
more as a people and begins a new life in Jerusalem, rebuilds the temple, 
and renews the covenant. But again the people of God apostatizes, and 
when finally the "Expected One of Israel" and "of the nations" appears, 
it is only with a small portion that He finds faith. This portion of 
Israel fulfils indeed its great mission perfectly, both for itself and for 
the world: from Israel comes forth the Messiah; a daughter of David 
is His Mother, and His genealogy reaches from Joseph back to David; 
Israelites are the first members of the kingdom; Israeli tish Apostles go 
and teach, convert, baptize, and educate the people. But Israel, as a 
people, rejects the Messiah. Whilst the prodigal sons of the history of the 
world return to their home, Israel itself becomes a prodigal son until it, 
too, at the end of days, will return to its real home as a people. In spite of 
the evil development Jahve keeps His word for David's sake, until the 
Messiah, the son of David, shall begin His work. Such is the background 
upon which the following vicissitudes and developments are painted. 

17. The kings. Glorious and luminous lights, but also most gloomy 
shadows, are the kings of Israel in their fidelity and ofttimes infidelity 
and in their vocation as leaders of the people and as the ancestors and 
types of Christ. In spite of all their human infidelity, member after 
member is fittingly enumerated in the genealogy of Christ, and the 
pedagogy for Christ conquers time and again, in spite of every apparent 
failure of success. The historical presentation of the kings of Juda and 
of the people under them is a true type and a prototype of the objective 
writing of history, but, at the same time, an indestructible image of 
divine justice which judges without respect to persons, and carries out 
its designs, and is in need of no man, and can even awaken out of stones 
children of Abraham. 

18. The prophets. Grandly, and simultaneously with the reign of 
the kings, arises the mission of the prophets. The prophets are, on the 
one hand, great preachers, saviours, and leaders of their times; on the other 
hand, they are the mighty seers of the future. 1 Through them the image of 

1 See above, pp. 128 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the future Messiah and the Redeemer of the world is presented to the 
people, oftentimes so sharply and clearly and, in spite of all obscurity, 
so overwhelmingly and richly, that Isaias is called the evangelist 
of the Old Law. Never was the pragmatics of the divine plan of the 
world more fully disclosed than by the prophets. If the biblical histori- 
cal portraits and the books of the prophets are compared with the corre- 
sponding chapters of the history of the world, then the Holy Scriptures 
place a golden key of a deeper understanding of the profane history and 
of the designs of the world into our hands. If the figures of a Nabu- 
chodonosor and of a Cyrus, etc., taken from the biblical historical books, 
from Isaias and Daniel, are placed in juxtaposition, at once does the 
carpet of the divine plan of the world unfold its bright side. The image 
of the Messiah becomes through the prophets more and more an image of the 
Redeemer of the world, and the mission of Israel a mission of the world. 
Herein we are surprised by the prophets at the depth and intensity of 
the religious life which one would expect to find only in the New Testa- 
ment. Fancy the marvelous sermon on the thought of God, given 
by Isaias, Daniel, and Baruch, the enchanting figure of the Messiah 
given by Isaias and Amos, the depth and purity of private and social 
morals and ascetics given by all the prophets, the uniquely beautiful 
and fruitful emotions of love and of contrition, those singular mixtures 
of severity and of mildness, the most powerful strength and intimate, 
tender, and subjective sensitiveness: no cultured nation of ancient times 
can present anything which might in the remotest degree be compared 
with the religious, moral, and pragmatic standard of the Israelitish pro- 
phetic mission, which, moreover, has left us its traces in the garb of a 
classical literature. The influence of the prophets extends far beyond Israel 
— they are preachers and proclaimers of the Messiah to whole nations of 
even the pagan world. 1 These few references depict the prophets as a veri- 
table school of preachers. For conceptions of God, of the Redeemer, and 
of His kingdom, of grace and its fruits, of a pure and undefiled idea of 
morals and ascetics, the prophets supply treasures most rich in contents 
and in form. (See above: The Holy Scripture as a source of popularity, 
pp. 81-89, a l so PP- 65 and 82; pp. 83 and 84. Compare also the entire, 
grand disposition of the prophecies of Isaias, as in Kaulen's intro- 
duction of Hahneberg's "Geschichte der biblischen Offenbarung," or 
the commentaries of Knabenbauer, or Anmerkungen zur homiletischen 
Anwendung in Schuster-Holzhammer's Handbuch, I. n. 711-879.) 
19. The deportation. In spite of their divine direction by grace, 

1 See Elias, Eliseus, Isaias, Daniel, — Daniel's unique position at the court of 
Nabuchodonosor has a parallel, in a measure, in the missions of the Jesuits at the 
court of the imperial Tartar dynasty in China during the seventeenth century. 
See Grimm, Leben Jesu, Vol. 1, p. 25. 



134 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the people of God became degenerate: only a small portion remained 
faithful. The punishment of Judea soon followed: the deportation, 
which was a forcible transplanting of the people of Israel into the very 
midst of the pagans. Like pottery, the Lord destroys the city and the 
sanctuary. Like an adulteress He drives the people from the land. It 
seems as if revelation had lost its channel. But the frightful castigation 
operates in a purifying manner upon the rest of Israel and in an enlighten- 
ing manner upon the pagan world. The world-embracing power which 
deported Israel becomes itself an instrument of God. The great ruler 
of Babylon must finally bow before the supernatural greatness of the 
prophet Daniel, who works and prophesies in the very midst of the 
nations. He gives honor to the God of Israel, and the new conqueror, 
under whose feet the power of the culture of new Babylon is broken, 
Cyrus, the founder of the Persian world-embracing empire, bows like- 
wise before Daniel the prisoner: he refers to the God of Israel who, he 
claims, had commanded him to dismiss the Jews and to rebuild the 
Temple. And in the midst of the pagan world Daniel prophesies after 
Nabuchodonosor a second, a third, a fourth world-embracing power — 
he saw in vision Cyrus, Alexander, the Romans, until the grand empire 
is to follow which God Himself is to build, the empire of the Messiah. 
On all sides rays and grains of truth are scattered through Daniel and 
by the Jews of the dispersion among the pagan world: which, in many 
instances, bear much fruit. 

The time of the deportation of Juda opens again an insight into the 
inscrutable ways of divine providence, which the inspired writers unfold 
by the command of God: 

(a) Israel is terribly punished, but also thoroughly purified from its 
inclination toward idolatry and prepared for the task of its mission. 

(b) But all other people are drawn into the world-plan of God: true 
religion carries within itself the purpose of congregating all the dispersed 
and divided people around the Messiah. All culture and worldly power 
and all fidelity to God and to His kingdom must finally, consciously or 
unconsciously, serve the designs of God. 1 

20. A final retrospect and view into the Old Testament. If at this 
important turning-point of the history of revelation we look toward the 
future by gazing upon the past, we will find ourselves standing in the 
presence of an overwhelming fact: The religion and the Church of God, 
which is as old as humanity itself, bears within it an irresistible drawing 
toward universality, toward the care of souls and the happiness of all 
people. 

1 Tob., Dan. c. 2 sqq. See the grand ideas of Isaias and Daniel on the empire of 
the world and all the degrees of culture which fade away before the world-embracing 
empire of Christ. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 135 



But the religion of revelation was, in the course of time, brought 
into contact with all the various degrees of culture and cultured people 
by these very designs of God. It turned, as we have frequently seen, 
first toward the whole of the human race. Therefore the people, sepa- 
rating in the earliest days, carried with them some rays of primitive 
revelation over the whole world and among the entire human race. The 
religion of revelation came, therefore, through oft surprising contact 
into close touch with the great people of antiquity, with ancient and new 
Babylon, with the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Persians, with the 
Greek and Roman world-embracing powers, and with numerous smaller 
people of the Orient. The deportation of Israel and of Juda caused the 
just mentioned unique catechization of the pagan world and of its most 
prominent leaders. It was, furthermore, not a part of the plan of 
divine providence that all the deported should make use of the permission 
to return to Jerusalem. Even Daniel remained, with a portion of his 
Jewish tribesmen, in exile in the pagan world. From this gradually 
grew the great Jewish dispersion over all the countries of the known 
world. The institution of the synagogues, which owes its existence to 
the exile, spread wherever the Jews were found: "From ancient times 
Moses was read from city to city (even among the pagans) every Sabbath 
in the synagogues." 1 The synagogues, therefore, exerted an influence 
far beyond the Jewish boundaries. To this was added the work of 
proselyting, which had also a great providential mission 2 and developed 
the missionary work of Israel in other directions. The Septuagint 
translation of the Bible modeled the Greek world-language after the 
ideas of the revelation of the Old and the New Testament. The later 
sapiential books 3 indicate touching points and considerable analogies 
between them and the pagan philosophical schools, and unfold the grand 
world-plan of God and of Israel's world-embracing mission in a most 
exalted manner. (See Ecclesiastes, c. 42-50.) The books of Parali- 
pomena, Esdras, Nehemias, Tobias, Judith (see Achior's " Pragmatische 
Aufschlusse liber Israel" c. 5, 5 ff. and c 6), Esther, and of the Macha- 
bees are to be considered precisely in the light of a sacred universality 
and of a striking pragmatic reflection, whilst even the prophets, espe- 
cially the second part of Isaias, had already described the universal 
empire of the Messiah in most exalted and vivid colors. Let us now 
briefly describe the individual development of Israel after the deporta- 
tion and the guidance of His chosen people by the Almighty. 

A renovation of Israel follows, which is associated with the names 
of Aggeus, Zacharias, Esdras, Nehemias, and others. As soon as the 

1 Acts of the Apost. 15: 21. 

2 See Grimm, Leben Jesu, I. B. Einleitung, S. 28. 

3 Eccles. and Wisdom. 



136 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



religious, the moral, and the social conditions were rearranged, God 
sent the last of His prominent prophets, Malachias, who again, during 
the post-exilian time, announces the Messiah and His exalted sacrifice. 
His testament is a firm direction of the people toward their pedagogue — 
the law of Moses : Mementote legis Moysi servi mei, quam mandavi ei in 
Horeb ad omnem Israel, praecepta et judicia. 1 Then he promises the 
precursor, of the first and of the second advent, the Baptist — in the 
spirit of Elias and the personal Elias at the end of time — and finally 
the Messiah Himself, the mediator of the covenant, whom Israel asked 
for: et statim veniet ad templum suum Dominator, quern vos quaeritis et 
angelus testamenti, quern vos vultis. Ecce venit, dicit Dominus exercitum! 2 
And the prophet departs with an anxious question on his lips: And who 
shall stand to see Him? The prophet recognizes that terrifying law 
that only a portion of Israel seeks its salvation ! 3 

But the kingdom disappeared with the mission of the prophets. 
Israel, after the exile, amidst the pressure of the times, was no longer able 
to establish it, nor could it do so under the iron necessity of the Persian 
empire. The genealogy of David and of the Messiah as David's son, 
which the Evangelists Matthew and Luke have dragged from the dust, 
was lost in obscurity, and yet member is joined to member wherein the 
messianic spark is kept alive until it is to flare up before Israel and the 
whole world, yet quietly and humbly, as was planned in the designs of 
God. (See above Nr. 13.) Israel is now left to the guidance of its 
priesthood. Around this are grouped new organizations, "the great 
synagogue" of the Persian age, the "Gerusia" of the Machabean period, 
and the "synedrium" of the Roman times. After its return Israel was 
cured and purified of its pagan idolatry. The worship in the new 
Temple appears intensified and spiritualized. Prayer and the reading 
of the Holy Scriptures become more earnest in the various spheres of the 
people. The distress of the exile taught the people to pray, the depriva- 
tion of the Temple increased a longing for it and for the liturgy. The 
weekly Sabbath gathered all the congregations into their synagogues; 
this institution, created by the exile, was continued everywhere. The 
people, no longer divided into tribes, had become, in a certain measure 
at least, united and mighty. But also circles of confessors of the true 
God in Galilee were in connection with the Temple of Jerusalem and had 
their own synagogues. Samaria remained separated. 

Upon such soil did the heroes of the times of the Machabees grow. 
The Holy Scriptures show us here character sketches of a grandeur and 
purity which are unique in their kind in the history of the world. 4 

1 Mai. 4: 4 (3: 22). 

2 Mai. 3: 1-4, 5, 6. Math. 11: 10. Math. 17: 10. 

3 Mai. 3:2. 4 See the Books of the Machabees. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 137 



From such soil there finally blossomed forth, in the fulness of time, 
the families of a Zachary and an Elizabeth, and above all the virginal 
Mother of God, herself, just before God and walking without blame in all 
the commandments and justifications of the Lord. (Luke 1:6.) 

But, contrary influences exerted themselves likewise among the 
people. The custodians of the law, the various officials, were indeed, 
legally and, in decisive moments even, endowed with supernatural in- 
defectibility. 1 But their schools and sects corrupted the spirit and heart 
of Israel and put forms above the spirit of the Law. Israel became 
despiritualized and grew torpid. The Machabees had fought for pure 
ideals during the hardest times and in the midst of a godless culture. 
But in the succeeding period of national independence Israel felt itself 
too much a nation and a mere political power. This bubbling over with 
politico-national ideas corrupted the messianic idea, both in the leaders 
and in the masses. Parties and heresies divided the people which, led 
by the blind, blindly moved onward. The literal service crippled all 
higher aspirations. And since the iron hand of the Romans had been 
laid upon Israel, the most of the leaders and of the people expected a 
Messiah, not to free them from sin, but a political Messiah who is to 
break the yoke of the Romans and to prepare for Israel a world-embrac- 
ing empire. And thus the Old Testament dismisses us: The New casts 
its first morning rays "into the days of Herod." "Herod is a signature 
of the age, reduced to its shortest expression"; Herod, the creature of 
the Romans, is no Jew, but the king of the Jews against their will. And, 
yet, he is a genuine outgrowth of the history of the corrupted people of 
God. The Machabean, who had brought the issue of the war to a happy 
end, Simon, had only assumed the supreme direction of the people up to 
the time when a reliable prophet was to arise. But his successors, 
especially Aristobul, had themselves made kings, though uncalled to 
the throne of David. Discord and abomination in the royal house caused 
the Romans to interfere, who finally placed the Idumean, their creature 
and vassal, on the throne of Israel. 2 

21. The Expected of Israel and of the people — Christ Jesus. All 
the rays of light of the Old Testament were focused upon Christ. The 
image of the Redeemer of the world, ever since the first promise made 
in Paradise, was constantly more clearly, more definitely, and in a grander 
and more detailed manner described. The Law was a pedagogue, a 
disciphnarian, which prepared Israel for Christ. The prophets were 
lovely fathers and leaders, who pointed to the Redeemer of the world. 
A numerous series of types prefigured Him who was to come. The 
favors and the visitations, the humiliations and the exaltations were 
imparted solely for the Messiah's sake. The Evangelists paint the 



1 John n: 52. 



2 Grimm, Leben Jesu, 1. p. 51. 



138 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



picture of the Redeemer in the midst of the gloomy days of Herod and 
toward the last days of Israel's development. It corresponds, in mar- 
velous harmony, with the great sketches of the prophets, as the first 
Evangelist constantly emphasizes, but it surpasses, in an infinite degree, 
all the false hopes and representations, as well as all the true pictures 
and descriptions given by the prophets, because it is, indeed, the picture 
of infinite love: Apparuit humanitas et benignitas Salvatoris nostri Dei. 1 
All stars lose their brightness at the approach of the rising sun by which 
we are visited by the merciful heart of our God. 2 The world holds its 
breath, and the pulsations of all evolutions and cultural developments 
cease in order to contemplate the one and the eternal God, and to love 
Him : ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus per hunc in invisibilium amor em 
rapiamur? Sistere in persona amata propter se — as the great St. Thomas 
says — this is forcibly urged by the first great impression of the Gospels. 

Into these temporal conditions the Evangelists draw the full living 
picture of the Redeemer of the world in immortal lines. At the birth 
of Christ the angels solemnly announce the world-plan of God in the 
center of which the newly born Redeemer is manifested as the Light of 
the world: Gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae 
voluntatis ! 

The Gospels describe the plain Son of Man — Christ Jesus. But, 
through the clouds of this humanity there breaks forth and shines, 
constantly more and more resplendently, the sun of His divinity during 
the quiet days of the infancy, of the tender years of youth, at the entrance 
into the public life, amidst the innumerable miracles and revelations of 
the same time, until, finally, on Easter, the full glory of God looms up: 
ille inquam lucifer, qui nescit occasum ille, qui regressus ab inferis humano 
generi serenus illuxit. 4 And this picture, viewed from both sides, renders 
the objective evangelical historical description plain, simple, and humanly 
near, and yet so touching and overwhelming that no one can resist it. 
Unto this very day all ages, all civilized people, and even all the oppo- 
nents of religion stand gazing at the picture of Christ. It is so irresistible 
that whoever will not subject himself to Christ in His Church attempts 
at least to claim, though unjustly, Christ for himself or for his party: 
merely because it is difficult to take an open antagonistic position against 
Christ in the world. The sects, the rationalists, the socialists, all would 
like to claim the image of Christ as the seal of their opinions, aye, they 
would like to make Him the author of their ideas. And he who has 
abandoned the Church, religion, and faith endeavors, nevertheless, to 
announce some apparent way to Christ without faith and without 

1 Tit., c. 2 and 3. Compare the formularies of the masses (Epistles) of Christmas. 

2 Luke. 1 : 78. 

3 Preface of Christmas. 4 The Exultet of the liturgy of Holy Saturday. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



religion. 1 All this contains an indirect vindication of our biblical image 
of Christ, from the influence of which no one can entirely withdraw 
himself. But, for the Catholic preacher, who, under the guidance of 
the Church, is able to penetrate into the full contents of the Gospels, 
this manifestation is an admonition to act upon the world by means of 
the full and perfect image of Christ: It is that irresistible power, of 
which the Lord Himself says: omnia trahani ad me ipsum. 2 And indeed, 
how does Christ appear to us in the Gospels! What a wondrous being! 
What loftiness, majesty, and loveliness in His exterior appearance! 
What a grand, bright intellect, what a magnificent character and noble 
heart ! All of which is transfigured by the light of innumerable graces, 
by the glory of an immaculate sanctity, by the splendor of most marvel- 
ous powers; all is, finally, borne and enwrapped in the rays of the glory 
and of the adorable person of His divinity: He is a being whom we not 
only admire, but whom we may, can, and must adore. 3 And still, again, 
this Jesus of the Gospels is a being who turns to us and invites us to 
Himself: " Follow me; my yoke is sweet and my burden is light." 

Jesus manifests Himself to His own through the Gospels, first in a 
marvelous school of faith, step by step more clearly and more brightly, 
as the Son of God, until they fall down before Him and adore Him: 
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." "My Lord and my 
God!" This carefully planned and established school of faith, from 
the beginning of the public activity of Jesus to the day of Caesarea 
Philippi, and from that to the ascension of the Lord, belongs to the 
grandest and homiletically most fruitful of all that is contained in Holy 
Scripture. 4 

He manifests Himself to His own as a true son of man, Who is to 
suffer for His brethren in a stern school of suffering, educating His own 
anew, step by step, to the comprehension of His Passion, until it appears 
before their eyes in its frightful reality. 5 But He is not satisfied with a 
figure and a type and a mere school; He is de facto the real suffering 
Redeemer, and He accomplishes the work of the redemption. As the 
God-man He completes the bloody sacrifice of the cross. The Gospels 
describe, in unique simplicity and with a supernatural tragic art and in 
the light of an infinite, immeasurable love the history of the Passion. 
The Pharisees, the Jews, the pagans, even Satan, who all conspire to 
destroy Him, are assumed, though against their will, into the designs of 
God, until the dying Redeemer can say: Consummatum est — it is con- 

1 Compare the latest literature of religious pamphlets, etc., of various phases. 

2 John 12: 32. 

3 Meschler, S.J., Gabe des hi. Pfingstfest: der Gottmensch, 3d ed. p. 36 ff. 

4 See p. 53, also Meyenberg, Aus der Apostelgeschichte, Luzern, Raeber, 1899, 
PP- S~79- 5 See above, pp. 85, 86. 



140 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



summated. This is the acme of biblical pragmatics. But His work 
and His school are to continue. 

Therefore the Redeemer continues in the Gospel the school of His 
kingdom, before and after His resurrection, and establishes His king- 
dom, the Church — 'the plan of which He had designed in the just 
mentioned school — His life-work, which is to last for all ages. 

During His great life upon earth He seeks and gathers the building 
material for His kingdom, for His Church — He designs the plan, builds 
and organizes and finishes her. Then, by words of omnipotence, He 
transmits to her the perpetuation of His work: Data est mihi omnis 
potestas in coelo et in terra: euntes ergo docete omnes gentes, etc. By a 
new word of omnipotence He pledges to the Church, established upon 
Peter, His assistance: ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus, usque ad 
consummationem saeculi — through the Holy Ghost Whom He sends and 
Who reminds His own of all that He had said to them. The government 
of this kingdom He transmits to Peter and his successors: pasce agnos 
meos: pasce oves meas. 1 

And this kingdom from without becomes also a kingdom and a 
school from within. 

The Christ of the Gospels brings, plants, nourishes, resuscitates, and 
perfects the new second, supernatural life of grace. When the educated 
Nicodemus, the representative of contemporary Jewish culture and 
science, appeared before Him, He spoke to the astonished Jewish teacher 
of a second birth, of a second life, of that which the catechism calls 
supernatural, sanctifying grace, and of a wonderful intensification of 
this life in the soul of a Christian (John, c. 3). Denuo nasci is there- 
fore the program of Christ. 2 Ut vitam habeant et abundantius habeant 
is the aim of His work. But this kingdom from within is not only a 
giving of Himself on the part of Christ, but also a following of Christ 
on our part; a formation of Christ in man. 3 He desires to make men 
sculptors who chisel piece by piece, and painters who draw upon the soul 
line after line of the characteristic properties of Christ, until the 
likeness of Christ appears in the human soul, until Christ, under the 
portals of eternity, recognizes His own image : transformamur in eandem 
imaginem (Christi) a claritate in claritatem tanquam a Domini spiritu. 4 
The way that leads to this Christ unfolds by a program in the sermon 
on the Mount and by the ideal of His pure morality, and He shows it, 
according to all sides of duty and perfection, by His whole life, in doctrine 
and in example. 

We have followed the trend of the Bible in rapid strides — nowhere 

1 See the introduction, p. 3, n. 2 sqq. n. 4 and 5. 

2 John, c. 3 and c. 4: 11; John 10: 10. See also above, pp. 2, 21, 22, 49, 65-67. 

3 Gal. 4:19. * II Cor. 3:18. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



has it concealed the defective, the sinful, the horrible, and the wretched 
of human aberration and faults, but it reproaches even the bearers of 
revelation. In the image of Christ it knows no stains : Who of you can 
convict me of sin? asks the evangelical image, as does Jesus Himself 
in the Gospel. The objectivity of the sacred writers, who also reveal 
or criticize the faults of the prominent bearers of revelation with a 
unique freedom, is also found in the Evangelists, but even such writing 
of history finds no stain in Christ. The Evangelists, however, refrain 
from all positive, subjective sentiments in favor of Christ, and, neverthe- 
less, their Christ is the most attractive figure ever sketched upon earth. 

A constant reading and meditation of the life of Christ in the Gos- 
pels, therefore, will fill the preacher himself with an admiration for this 
image of Christ, so that he will really feel himself compelled to paint it, 
time and again, for the people in such a manner as if Christ lived in their 
midst, as if He had been crucified among them. 1 The preacher will thus 
gradually work himself into the marvelous combination of the life of 
Christ which we can merely indicate in most scanty lines, and he will 
perceive the central significance of the life of Christ, of which every- 
thing in religion is but a ray. The preacher will, therefore, select works 
for his study which comprise the whole life of Christ, in its perfect con- 
nection. For this we recommend especially the greatly planned "Leben 
Jesu," by Dr. J. Grimm, where the more extensive study becomes a 
real school for the preacher, the "Life of Christ," by Meschler, etc. For 
a correct systematic conception of the life of Christ a collection of the 
pictures of the life and works of Christ by prominent apologists and 
preachers is of a great advantage, f.i., Hettinger's "Apologie,'' especially 
the chapters on: The Gospels, Jesus Christ, the Person of Jesus, Jesus' 
Words and Work — Christ the High-Priest, the Prophet, the King — then 
Schanz: Evangelium und Evangelien, das Leben Jesu, Jesu Person und 
Wesen, Christi Lehre und Werk, Gott und Mensch; similar treatises by 
Gutberlet, "Apologie," vol. II. 2 Such scientifically correct descriptions 
of the image of Christ, contained in the most prominent sketches, in 
connection with the artistically perfected characteristic sketches of 
Christ, such as are furnished, f.i., by the eighteenth discourse of the 
" Apologie" of Hettinger, are extremely valuable for the preacher, since 
they furnish him a key for a deeper conception of the Gospels. It is 
very much to be deplored that preachers, generally, do not oftener 
apply to such sources and take no more pains to make the people fully 
acquainted and familiar with the characteristic figure of Christ. 3 

1 Gal. 3:1. 

2 Schanz, Apologie vol. II. Hettiger, Apologie, vol. II. 1, 2, 3 Abt. 

3 See in connection with this the chapters: "Sermons on the life of Christ." "The 
Ecclesiastical Year." "The Liturgy as a Source of Eloquence," and "The Homily." 



1 42 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



To these sources belong also the presentation of the central sig- 
nificance of Christ; compare the excellent and concluding chapters of 
Meschler's "Life of Jesus": Life of Jesus in the Church, Life of Jesus in 
the Eucharist, Christ in the Church, the Perpetuation of Christ in the 
Christian People, Christ and the Religious State, Christ and the Hier- 
archy, the Saints of the Church and of Christ, Christ and the World; 1 
likewise the striking sermons on Christ by Eberhard, Forster, Sailer, 
P. Roh, P. Abel, Bossuet, Ravignan, Monsabre, Lacordaire, etc. 

If we consider the contents and the practical ideas of the Gospel, we 
will again agree with the declaration of St. Jerome: Deambulatin para- 
diso Dominus, quando divinas scripturas lego . . . : Paradisu Evangelium y 
in quo arbor vitae bonos fructus facit. 2 

22. The kingdom of Christ. After a bright cloud had concealed 
Christ ascending into heaven and the Acts of the Apostles had dedi- 
cated to Him a last farewell, we espy in Holy Scripture the first growth 
of the kingdom of Christ. The ship of the Church, built and perfected 
by Christ, lies, as it were, at anchor. All is quiet, when suddenly there 
descends, in the rushing winds of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit 
of truth and of love. The sails swell. Sacred, fiery signals announce 
the departure. 3 The ship of the Church sails out into the ocean of the 
world — to all people. Peter, the Vicar of Christ, stands at the helm. 4 
A fortunate portion of Israel saves itself in the Church of the New 
Testament. 5 The listening diaspora, which had gathered for the feast, 
points already to the universality of the Church. 6 But Israel as a people 
had rejected its Messiah. Israel as a people became the prodigal son 
of the history of the world. And, yet, it had fulfilled its mission in a 
splendid manner. From the house of David, from Israel, the Messiah 
of the world came forth. Christ Himself ascended the throne of David. 
His Vicar of the Church, to whom He addressed the all-embracing words: 
"feed my lambs, feed my sheep," occupies already the throne of David/ 
and his successors will occupy it until the end of time. And, yet, all this 
is means to the end, to the last and the eternal aim: to attain the mansions 
of the Eternal Father, in order "that they may have life and have it 
more abundantly in heaven." From Pentecost on we see the Church 
and ecclesiastical congregations growing from without and from within. 
The second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles contains the entire 
program of the Church and the plan of its execution. The Acts of the 
Apostles and the Apostolic letters describe, furthermore, the kingdom 

1 Meschler, "Life of Jesus," vol. 2, pp. 499-551. 

2 Ambrose 1: 4 ep. 31. 4 Acts, c. 2: Peter's Sermon. 

3 Acts, c. 2, 3. 6 Acts, c. 2: 5 sqq.; 2: 9 sqq.; 2: 14 sqq.. 

6 Acts 2: 9-12. 

7 Acts 2: 14 sqq. and the exalted position of Peter given in general. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



of Christ individually, as it was established by the Holy Ghost, spread, 
and maintained. In connection with the Gospels, in which above all 
Mary the Mother of God 1 and the first successors of the Saviour follow 
in the footsteps of Christ, they open for us a marvelous insight into 
the interior life of the souls and into the direction of the souls of the first 
Christians. 

The same parts of Holy Scripture show us how, in the kingdom of 
Christ, the streams of the living waters, i.e., the graces of Christ in the 
sacrifice, in the sacraments, and in all channels of grace, gush forth and 
penetrate into the hearts in order to give supernatural life, ultimately 
the aim of all things. 

The preacher will find in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Apos- 
tolic letters the first spring of dogma, of pragmatics, of moral and ascetics, 
of pastoral theology, and of ecclesiastical history, in a freshness and a 
directness, in a fulness and power which will constantly animate and 
give renewed zest to the homilist. It must be said, in regard to the 
letters of St. Paul especially, that the reading of the one or the other — 
with pen in hand — will fructify the spirit and stimulate the heart of 
the pastor of souls for years, especially after having familiarized himself 
therein by some good sketch, such as Kaulen's " Introduction," in con- 
junction with the reading of some commentary, either of Chrysostom, 
Estius, Dr. Schafer, and a partial consultation of the beautiful work of 
Dr. Simar: "Die Theologie des hi. Paulus." It is very desirable that 
some homiletic commentaries, which ought to be based on a sane exe- 
getic foundation, be furnished for the larger letters. This would facilitate 
for the very busy pastor of souls the use of these treasures, alas! so little 
known. 

23. The end of the Holy Scriptures. The just mentioned books of 
Holy Scripture give us an insight into the kingdom of God, and the last 
of the books concludes with a grand view into the future, unto the very 
end of days, when the Gospel shall have been preached, and the Jews, 
as a people, shall have been converted by Elias and Henoch (Moses?) 
to Christ, and the judgment day shall have dawned with its condemna- 
tion, but also with its immeasurable happiness in the heavenly Jerusa- 
lem. The Apocalypse presents a view behind the curtain, 2 into eternity. 
It is prejudicial to think that this secret revelation is not suited for 
sermons. The preacher will gather from it conceptions of the Church, 
of history, of human life, of the relation of all things and of each individ- 
ual soul to Christ, of dogmatic and yet richly colored descriptions and 
revelations of heavenly glory, which belong to that which is most fruitful 
among the treasures of Holy Scripture (compare also the liturgical 
application of the Apocalypse, contained in the various offices of dedi- 

1 See Mary in Holy Scripture, above § 6 (part 1). 2 Heb. 6: 19. 



144 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



cation, in the office of All Saints, in the lessons between Easter and 
Pentecost). 

We have arrived at the end of our rather meager description of 
pragmatic meditations on Holy Scripture. 

Various are the writers of Holy Scripture according to time and 
culture, various are their talents, their characters, the circumstances 
under which they wrote, often independently of each other. And 
yet, the collection of the books which we call Holy Scripture is but one 
hook, in the fullest sense of the word, the one book of the Holy Ghost, the 
Book of books, the book of the one world-plan of God on a large and a small 
scale, from without and from within. 

We will conclude our short passage through Holy Scripture with 
the words which a prominent recent critic and interpreter places at 
the end of his introduction to Holy Scripture: 

"It appears to be a providential disposition of Him Who desired to 
commit the Holy Scripture to the keeping of the Church, that the last 
book of the Bible should present the finishing of the divine activity 
from without, after the first book thereof had begun with the beginning 
of this activity. 

It is certainly not a matter of accidence that the end of the Apoc- 
alypse should return to the sphere of thought with which Genesis 
began. There "God created heaven and earth," here "He makes all 
things new," 21: 5, and there is "a new heaven and a new earth," 21: 1. 
Here is "the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them," 
21: 3. In Genesis the punishment of sin is sorrow and death and labor 
and distress; in the Apocalypse "God shall wipe away all tears from the 
eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow 
shall be any more, for the former things are passed away," 21:4. Thus, 
the original beauty of all things created, which had been destroyed by 
sin, will be restored by the Lamb of God, and the tree of life, from which 
Adam was driven, will serve "for the healing of the nations." In Genesis 
the earth is cursed on account of the sin of man and of Cain; in the 
Apocalypse "there shall be no curse any more," 22:3. In Genesis 
Cain is driven from the sight of God and receives a mark on his forehead 
which is a sign of his condemnation; in the Apocalypse "His servants 
shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on 
their foreheads," 22: 3, 4. Thus will be fulfilled what is said in 21: 6: 
"It is done: I am the alpha and the omega: the beginning and the 
end." 1 

The Holy Scripture, which began with heaven, passes away in an 
eternal heavenly song, which praises the final completion and execution 
of the divine plan of the world: "When once the full number of the 

1 Kaulen, Einleitung in die HI. Schrift, III Teil (Schluss) 596 n. 671. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 145 



elect shall have entered into the beatific vision, when the body of 
Christ shall be ripened to the full age of the Head, when transfigured 
nature shall be eternally wedded to the spirit in a living covenant of 
peace, when death and sin shall be conquered and God is all in all: 
then the whole assembly of the blessed world of angels and of men, of 
the perfect spiritual and corporeal world will form one grand chorus of a 
mighty hymn of praise, with a God-inspired enthusiasm of which every 
virtue, every merit, every character is one accord; every talent, every 
art, every science one word; every state of life, every vicissitude, 
every order one mind; every people, every age, every world one tone; 
and all together one animated song in honor of the All-merciful, Who 
meets the flaming spirit of the past and of the future; one hymn of 
praise as strong as God's world, as rich as time and eternity, and as 
sincere as divine love; a psalm in which the infinite word, with the fire 
and strength of its spirit, will continue to reverberate from heaven to 
heaven, from generation to generation, from eternity to eternity (Apoc. 
4:8): Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and Who is, 
and Who is to come. Alleluja." 1 Even the hell of those who are 
damned through their own fault will fail to carry a false note into it — 
it must, though forced, glorify God's justice, after having banished 
from itself His love. But in all who desire to be of good will the 
plan of the world will be fulfilled objectively and subjectively: Gloria 
in altissimis Deo, pax hominibus bonae voluntatis! 

But we will conclude these same thoughts, which are calculated to 
stimulate in the theologian and the preacher a deeper conception of 
the Bible, with the words of St. Jerome: Si juxta Apostolum Paulum 
Christus Dei virtus est et Dei sapientia, qui nescit scripturas, nescit Dei 
virtutem et Dei sapientiam. Ignorantia scripturarum ignorantia Christi 
est — and with the admonition of the same doctor of the Church : Divinas 
scripturas saepius lege: immo nunquam de manu tua sacra lectio deponatur. 
Disce quod doceas, obtine eum, qui secundum doctrinam est fidelem 
sermonem. 2 (Super Is. ad. Nep.) 

1 We give these beautiful words of Dr. Schell, of course with the exclusion of that 
"Apokastasis twv iravTw" which Schell unfortunately had dished up, in the first 
edition of his Dogma, in compliance with the Modernists, which was too far-reaching 
and which wiped out every limitation. 

2 The pragmatic meditation presupposes the exegetic-critical. It should not 
degenerate into a far-fetched mannerism. But it would be equally wrong to suspect 
every deeper pragmatic conception as an introduction of ideas which are not con- 
tained in the text, or as an exaggeration of the verbal meaning of the Scripture. The 
Holy books themselves express pragmatic thoughts. Oftentimes they are implied. 
Oftentimes the pragmatic consists in the selection of the reported facts by the sacred 
writer and in their connection. For a pragmatic meditation of Holy Scripture we 
recommend the reading of the short introduction of Grimm's "Leben Jesu," this 
classical work itself, and especially the " Geschichte der biblischen Offenbarung," by 



i 4 6 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 7. Holy Scripture — A Means to Enrich and to Improve 
Our Religious Ideas 

It is a peculiarity of the Holy Scriptures that they illustrate, 
from all sides, again and again, the great dogmatic, moral, and 
ascetic ideas of their various books by various authors. At times 
they are sharp dogmatic and moral definitions of ideas, f.i., in 
the sapiential books or in the proverbs and sentences of Christ; 
at other times it is an overpowering description, f.i., in many 
addresses and parables of the Lord; at other times an illustration 
under very peculiar circumstances and actual facts, as is often 
the case in the Gospels; again it is a unique, surprising psychological 
conception which frequently occurs in the letters of St. Paul, etc., 
which exhibit one and the same truth viewed from new points and 
always deeper and in a more exalted and overwhelming manner. But, 
it is one of the principal duties of the preacher to plant indelibly 
and deep down into the soul of the hearers, the great ideas of revela- 
tion: thus, it is of an immeasurable significance that the people 
may know and comprehend all that is contained in the ideas of 
God, of grace, of faith, of love, of the cross, of the sacraments, of 
sacrifice, etc. Therefore, the preacher should enrich his homiletic 
and catechetic explanations through the source of the Holy Scrip- 
tures, which supply such perfect wealth of these important ideas. 
For such work we recommend the following methods: 
1. Examine the valuable ideas on religion contained in a bib- 
lical concordance; see, arrange, and expound the respective pas- 
sages. The richness obtained will be astounding. Let the incipient 
preacher make an attempt with the idea " gratia" — but, at the 

Hahneberg, which, considered from its practical side, has never been excelled. Real, 
unique views into the biblical philosophy of history are supplied by the two last 
chapters of Grimm's " Leben Jesu," on the Genealogy of Matthew and of Luke I, C. 6 
p. 186 and II, c. 5, p. 37. It is precisely the pragmatic conception which solves many 
difficulties which force themselves upon the biblical reader, f.i., why are some shock- 
ing histories given so extensively, here and there, in the Old Testament ? why is, now 
and again, an apparently insignificant circumstance given with a striking breadth, 
then again apparently important matter passed over or concealed ? The two just- 
quoted chapters of Grimm's "Leben Jesu" present surprising solutions of such objec- 
tions, from the standpoint of pragmatics and upon a solid basis. We again wish to 
emphasize that if these pragmatic thoughts are not always suited for an immediate 
subject of a sermon, they nevertheless reveal to the preacher himself the entire depth 
of Holy Scripture and make it for him, in truth, the book of books, which, at times 
directly, then again indirectly, influences his entire homiletic activity in a most power- 
ful manner. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 147 



very outset, let him exclude all those passages in which the word 
does not mean " grace." Add to this the idea "vita," but, after 
a more careful examination, select only those passages in which 
" vita " means " supernatural life," "sanctifying grace." Try like- 
wise the words charitas, lux, dies, which occasionally mean the 
same thing. After such efforts it will be easy to develop, in a 
measure, the idea of grace according to its immense wealth, espe- 
cially, with the assistance of some good dogmatic work, of some 
catechetical explanation or of some deeper ascetical work, such, f .i., 
as Scheeben's " Herrlichkeiten der gottlichen Gnade." But, avoid 
compiling this, through some agreeable self-complacency, in the form 
of a scholastic composition. The material must be gathered with 
a sense of a vivid, reflexive suitableness for the purpose of making 
every effort to show the people the immeasurable and incomparable 
value of sanctifying grace in its fullest light, and to arouse the 
hearers to form a resolution never again to live without this 
grace. 1 

2. Use a scientific concordance, such as that of Lueg, f.i., in 
which the ideas are already arranged under certain points of view. 
How easily could, f.i., in this manner alone, a sermon be composed 
on the love of neighbor, on alms-giving, etc. — out of material 
gathered from a scientific concordance, in conjunction with a good 
moral-theology and by the aid of an open, warm view of life and 
its needs. 

3. Consult, occasionally, good dogmatic and moral works, 
which give scriptural proofs in an exhaustive, exegetic explanation. 
Such works garner a wealth of depth and of popularization and of 
treasures. Pursue the one or the other passage to its full meaning: 
for it is better to explain well one single passage than to heap up 
texts in long quotations that are badly understood. 

It is the singular and unique power of the Holy Scriptures, 
which flows from the divine breath of the Holy Ghost, that gives 
authority to the sacred orator, furnishes apostolic freedom of 
speech, and renders his eloquence forceful and victorious. Aye, 
he who gives in his speech the spirit and the power of the divine 
word speaks not in words only, but in the power and the Holy Ghost 
and in much fulness. (L Thess. 1: 5.) Therefore, those preachers 
act wrongly and not as the good master of a family, who deliver 
religious discourses and announce divine truths only to produce 
1 Compare p. 69, the example of religion as a source of joy. 



148 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



words of human science and prudence, building more upon their 
own sagacity than upon the divine proofs. Such a sermon, though 
rich in oratorical splendor, must naturally be tame and cold, 
because it is wanting in the fire of the divine word (Jerem. 23: 29), 
and is far removed from that power and strength which the divine 
word possesses: "for the word of God is living and effectual, and 
more piercing than any two-edged sword: and reaching unto the 
division of the soul and the spirit." (Heb. 4: 12.) The Fathers 
call Holy Scripture in many places: "a rich treasury of heavenly 
doctrines, inexhaustible fountains of salvation, and describe it as a 
fruitful meadow and a paradisaical field upon which the flocks of 
the Lord find wonderful refreshment and genuine joy. 1 

For this very reason homiletics may and must demand, from the 
entire course of theology, an abundant cultivation of so-called posi- 
tive theology and an arrangement for the study of the Holy Scriptures, 
in our theological seminaries and universities, such as the dignity 
of this branch of studies and the requirements of the times demand. 
Compare the respective admonitions of Leo XIII, in his encyclical 
Providentissimus Deus, wherein he speaks of the influence of the 
study of Holy Scripture upon the whole of theology, which is 
directly called its soul. 2 

4. Ask yourself occasionally the question: What is the con- 
ception and the depth of the scholastic and catechetical ideas and 
principles contained in Holy Scripture? and try to make medita- 
tions and studies on these lines. For this purpose you will find 
monographs of so-called biblical theology, which describe certain 
themes and ideas in the full light of the Scriptures or on some par- 
ticular book of Holy Scripture, very useful, f.i., Dr. Simar's: "Theo- 
logie des HI. Paulus," Dr. Schaefer's, "Maria in der HI. Schrift," etc. 

5. Again ask yourself the question: What ideas and demands 
are contained in Holy Scripture for the amelioration of our lives? 3 
In this way we will discover the moral teachings of Holy Scripture. 
Ask, f.i., the question: What do the Scriptures say about suffering? 
(Compare f.i., Job — The history of the Passion — the announce- 
ment of the Passion and of the Passion-school of the Gospel — St. 
Paul's conception of suffering — compare with this, f.i., Dr. Kepp- 

1 Leo XIII, Encyc. de studiis Scripturae Sacrae, Providentissimus Deus. 

2 Illud autem maxime optabile est et necessarium ut ejusdem Divinae Scripturae usus 
in universam theologiae influat disciplinam ejusque propria sit anima: ita nimirum 
omni aetate Patres praeclarissimi quique theologi professi sunt et re praestiterunt, p. 45. 

3 See above, p. 52, b. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 149 



ler, Bishop of Rottenburg: "Das Problem des Leidens." 1 Sim- 
ilar questions are: What does Christ think and say of faith? Of 
grace? of self-denial? of prayer? of money and wealth? of death? 
of the hereafter? etc. Gather such answers from the Bible, arrange 
them as a climax in popular development and as an antithesis of 
the judgment of the world, which may be noted here and there 
and sharply refuted in the light of the Scriptures. Rich biblical 
material is found for the improvement of moral life and for a super- 
natural Christian school of character in the moral theology of 
Dr. Miiller (Lat.), Dr. Goepfert (German), in the 5th vol. of the 
Apologie of P. A. Weiss (compare also the very valuable and 
rich general index of the whole work, so useful for the preacher), 
in the Pastoral of Sailer (compare L B. "Vom erbauenden 
Schriftbetrachten," No. 14, S. 261-269). Pesch, "Das religioese 
Leben," etc. 

§ 8. Holy Scripture — A Collection of Marvelous 

Characters 

A collection of the character-portraits of some of the prom- 
inent individuals mentioned in Holy Scripture is really a fruitful 
homiletic work, when done to form them into practically effective 
pictures of characters. 

The simple art of determining characters consists: 

1. In gathering together pregnant character sketches and pas- 
sages on subjects or persons. 

2. In emphasizing the marrow and the kernel of these sketches. 

3. In the effort of concluding from particular sketches to the 
whole and making use, for this purpose, of important points taken 
from the Holy Scriptures themselves. 

4. In arranging all sketches under certain view-points, but 
reproducing, however, the same in the most possible words and 
colors of Holy Scripture itself, in order not to weaken them. 

5. -In constantly remaining conscious, during the work, of 
either only seeking short and pointed characters for a single sermon, 
or of desiring to prepare, perhaps, a cycle of sermons of these 
characters of biblical personalities. (In the latter case an exact 
separation of the themes that exclude the material is especially 
necessary.) 

1 Also a similar example of suffering, above: The penetrability of biblical speech, 
PP. 84, 85. 



/ 

150 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



6. In not merely seeking the great or extraordinary features 
of virtue, but also in considering the lesser virtues and especially 
in following and exhibiting great biblical characters wrestling with 
sins and faults in order to attain supernatural greatness of char- 
acter — under the guidance of divine grace. 

7. In making all this not an unproductive speech of praise, 
but a mirror and an incentive for our present age. 

In this manner, and following the example of the Fathers, Abraham, 
Moses, David, Daniel, Tobias, the Machabees, f.i., might be presented 
as character sketches in various cycles of sermons for Advent. (Com- 
pare, f.i., Bishop Eberhard's sermons on the Old Testament, Breiten- 
eicher's sermons on the Old Testament, the Aux. Bishop Dr. Schmitz' 
Predigten iiber David.) 

In connection with the feast of the Princes of the Apostles, SS. Peter 
and Paul, the sketches of these Apostles might be developed on the 
Sundays preceding and following the feast. 

In regard to the character sketch of St. Paul especially, we should 
like to draw attention to St. John Chrysostom (Homilies on the Pauline 
letters 1 and de Sacerdotio). An excellent effort of a homiletic forma- 
tion of the character of St. Paul will be found in Sailer, Pastoraltheologie, 
I. B. (Ausg. von 1788) S. 240-261: Paulus Begriffe von Gott — Paulus 
Begriffe von der menschlichen Natur — von Chris tus (f.i., Wie dachte 
Paulus vom Heiland? Du?) — Paulus Blick in die ewige jenseitige Welt. 
Paulus Andacht — Glaube des HI. Paulus — Paulus Treue im Berufe. 
Compare herewith Simar: Theologie des HI. Paulus. Wandlungen und 
Wanderungen Pauli, von Dr. Muller (Schweitzerische Rundschau, 
1 90 1, Heft 6. Compare also the offices and masses of the Conversio 
Si. Pauli Ap., Jan. 25, and of the Commemoratio S. Pauli Ap., 
June 30, also the Dominica in Sexagesima and Quinquagesima; see below : 
Liturgy as a source: The ecclesiastical year). Holy Scripture, com- 
bined with the liturgy, furnishes rich material. (See Dr. Keppler, Ad- 
ventperikopen for character studies of St. John the Baptist, 2 f.i., the 
family of St. John, Luke I. 1, 2 sqq.) The nativity of St. John ■ — John 
in the desert and the solitude — John in his vocation — John as a man 
and as a character — John in death. (See above: the fixing of the 
aim of the Sundays of Advent, p. 89, below: The ecclesiastical year — 
Advent — the corresponding chapters of Grimm's and Meschler's 
"Leben Jesu" — and Dippel's ecclesiastical year: Advent.) 

But the most exalted that the preacher can and should describe, 

1 Compare St. John Chrysostom, de laudibus S. Pauli, homiliae, VII. 

2 f . i., for sermons for families and men for Advent, or after the nativity of 
St. John the Baptist in June or July. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 151 

according to Holy Scripture, are the character sketches of Christ Him- 
self, whether it be in single homilies or in a cycle of sermons or in one 
complete sketch. (See below: Sermon on Christ, above: Pragmatics 
of Holy Scripture, n. 21 sqq., pp. 137 sqq., compare also the paragraphs 
on the Homily.) 

§ 9. The Holy Scripture — A Teacher or Popular Eloquence 
and the Means to Popularize Religion 

The proof of this thesis is found above in the second chapter 
of the first book: The source and the model of the popular sermon 
is, above all, Holy Scripture (pp. 81-86 n. a-e). 

ARTICLE II. THE USE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE — A SOURCE OF 
SACRED ELOQUENCE 

Our expositions of Holy Scripture had for its object a demon- 
stration of the significance of the book of books as a source and a 
school for the preacher. 

But the principal thing is, and will ever remain, the actual, 
fruitful drawing from this source by the preacher. 

Leo XIII impresses this duty in the strongest possible terms, 
in his oft-quoted encyclical Providentissimus Deus. In connec- 
tion herewith he recalls the solicitude with which the Church 
strives to inculcate this in the words of the council of Trent: Pr de- 
clare igitur ex his providentia excellit Ecclesiae, quae, ne coelestis ille 
sacrorum librorum thesaurus, quern Spiritus Sanctus summa liberali- 
tate hominibus tradidit neglectus jaceret, optimis semper et institutis 
et legibus cavit. 1 

In the above paragraphs we have already given a series of rules 
and methods for the practical drawing of material from Holy 
Scripture and, at the same time, a description of their homiletic 
advantages, so that we may here simply content ourselves with a 
cursory review. We shall give a few stimulations 

1. to a cursory reading of the Scriptures, 

2. to a study of several commentaries, 

3. to a study of pericopes, 

4. to a proper so-called homiletic exegesis. 

We can compress all this into the idea of a biblical meditation 

1 Encyc. Providentissimus Deus, pp. 18 sqq., Trid. Sess., V decret. de Reform I. 



152 HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



for the purpose of edification, 1 of which we shall treat in the fol- 
lowing paragraphs. 

§ i. Cursory Reading 

Read in a cursory manner the entire Holy Scriptures. ' Select 
for this purpose either the Vulgata or the vernacular text. But 
do not waste much time with every difficulty, but rather read notes 
only occasionally, in order that you may comprehend the connec- 
tion the better. Thus you will obtain a view of the biblical pan- 
orama by a more rapid reading. What has merely been done 
during the years of theological studies the preacher might, from 
time to time, repeat. It is also commendable to read the various 
books in their consecutive order, as they are placed before us in 
the breviary during the course of the year. The piecemeal litur- 
gical reading in the office would thus be profitably aided by an 
antecedent and a concomitant universal reading. It is also well 
to consult a short sketch of these, possibly in an introduction, for 
the purpose of orientation before reading the several books. But 
this reading should not be considered a scientific one, but simply a 
spiritual reading : even the homiletic fruit will thus grow more richly. 
The selection of the books, according to the order of the breviary 
and of the ecclesiastical year, brings them into an astonishing com- 
bination with the life of the Church, which again will increase the 
fruit of the reading. Compare with this some pertinent remarks 
in the treatise on the ecclesiastical year. (See also Hettinger, 
"Aphorismen ueber Predigt und Prediger," S. 225 fL, 228 ff.) 

Above we inserted, into the chapter on the Bible, a paragraph 6 
(continued) on the pragmatics of Holy Scripture, with a somewhat 
remarkable fulness in homiletic studies, especially for the pur- 
pose of cultivating in the clergy a cursory reading of the Scriptures. 
The keeping in view of striking pragmatical points of view will 
immensely fructify the cursory reading. A very clever pastor said 
to us recently: "Tell the theologians and the seminarians to have 
an open Bible constantly on a table or desk, prepared for this 
purpose in their study-room, in order to spend some moments, 
and even though it be only one, with the book of books." We 
should like to extend this beautiful advice of the petitioner beyond 
the years of the seminary life. 

1 Compare the vol. I of Sailer's highly recommendable: Pastoraltheologie, vom 
erbaulichen Scriftbetrachten, mit reichen Beispielen. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 153 



§ 2. The Study of Commentaries 

Study from time to time an extensive commentary on the one or 
other book of the Holy Scriptures. The reading of one single com- 
mentary, which grasps the idea of making the richness of the word 
of God fruitful for the promotion of holy religion, will bear fruit 
for a long time to come in the preacher. We recommend, from 
the view-point of the homilist especially, commentaries which 
succeed in elevating the dogmatic, the moral, and the ascetic mean- 
ing; f.i., Grimm's "Leben Jesu," " Isaias," by Knabenbauer, "Die 
Evangelienkommentare von Schegg," Schanz, Gutberlet's com- 
mentary on the " Weisheitsbiicher und zu Tobias," Dr. Schaefer's 
"Kommentare zu den Paulinischen Briefen," Bishop Keppler's 
"Unseres Herrn Trost," etc. The homilies of Sailer, Foerster, and 
Eberhard, etc. Among the great general commentaries we would 
recommend especially: The Cursus Scripturae Sacrae (Latin, 
Paris), and the biblical commentary just published in Vienna, 
which notes especially the needs of the preacher. Among the 
ancient commentaries we recommend to the preacher the homilies 
of St. John Chrysostom, the treatise on John by St. Augustin, and 
especially the rich and very practical commentary of Cornelius a 
Lapide on the Gospels, the securing of which no preacher would 
ever have reason to regret. 

§ 3. The Study of the Pericopes 

Study most especially the Sunday pericopes — especially the 
Epistles and the Gospels, in order to penetrate into the full riches 
of the contents. The notes of Allioli, of Loch, and Reishl, 1 and 
other great biblical editions are great auxiliaries. Study also the 
corresponding chapters of a great Life of Christ or of a biblical 
commentary. It is especially recommendable to penetrate more 
deeply into the one or the other Gospel in this fruitful manner — 
with pen in hand. The exegesis, thoughts, applications, references 
of material of different works, gathered in the cornu copiae, give a 
foundation for a great number of homilies and sermons on the same 
Gospel for many years. Preserve these preparatory labors very 
carefully and rewrite them for special use from time to time. We 
are well aware of the overwork of many pastors. But still, a great 
number of preachers might find time to exercise themselves in 

1 German authors. 



154 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



such indirect preparations. These exercises may, according to 
time and circumstances, be longer or shorter. The mere noting 
of some good ideas on the Gospel, in the form of mere indications 
of quotations, of the works in which they are found, also the regis- 
tration of some lumina from the meditation on the respective 
chapters or personal reflections on the pericopes, create spiritual 
sparks through which the old animation and the practical sense 
in later times, and especially during pressure of great work and of 
days of weariness, become again inflamed. Compare herewith 
our exhaustive directions in the chapter on the ecclesiastical year 
and on the practical sermon, f.i., pp. 53 sqq., 56, 57-60. 

§ 4. Personal Homiletic Exegesis 

During these preparatory efforts and also in the composition of 
homilies and likewise in the exposition of Scriptural proofs for sermons 
exercise yourself in personal homiletic exegesis. 

By homiletic exegesis we mean a Scriptural conception and 
explanation which endeavors to solve the practical questions : How 
should, can, and may I make the true and full sense and contents 
of Holy Scripture and all its opinions and suggestions available and 
effective, in the fullest measure, for religious life? Homiletic 
exegesis, therefore, resting upon the scientific, desires to enter into 
the full and entire aim of Holy Scripture: ah infantia sacras litter as 
nosti, quae te possunt instruere ad salutem per fidem, quae est in 
Christo Jesu. Omnis enim Scriptura divinitus inspirata, utilis est 
ad docendum, ad arguendum, ad corripiendum, ad erudiendum in 
justitia: ut perfectus sit homo Dei et ad omne bonum opus instructus. 
II(Tim. 3: 15.) 

This homiletic penetration into the Holy Scriptures is very 
important, but considered by many difficult, therefore, we will add 
several methodical points of view on the meditation and appli- 
cation of the Scriptures for the purpose of edification. There are 
especially two points of view under which we wish to consider the 
homiletic exegesis: 

1. the personal exegesis and the sense of Holy Scripture. 

2. the personal homiletic exegesis and the entire and com- 
plete contents of Holy Scripture. 

We shall treat of these in the following paragraphs. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 155 



§ 5. The Homiletic Exegesis and the Sense of 
Holy Scripture 

In regard to the fundamental meaning of tradition, especially 
of the interpretation by the Fathers and of the ecclesiastical deci- 
sions of the sense of Holy Scripture, we direct the reader to the 
exegetics and to the encyclical Providentissimus Deus. 

All that which follows is based upon this foundation. In 
personal homiletic exegesis adhere closely to the literal sense and 
its ecclesiastical interpretation (sacrae litterae possunt te instruere 
ad salutem per fidem) Therefore, avoid all artificial mannerism 
and levity in regard to the text. A serious glance at a scanty 
commentary or at good notes of some biblical edition will soon 
indicate the proper way. Have also a true regard for the mystical 
and the typical sense, wherever such really exists and is determined 
according to good interpreters or by the Church herself as having 
been intended by the Holy Ghost: this is often extraordinarily 
fruitful for homiletic purposes. There is, furthermore, a homiletic 
sensus accommodatus cum fundamento in re. Certain passages, truths, 
and facts of Holy Scripture may be applied without any artificial 
means to certain circumstances of life as a model, a rule, a measure, 
a consolation, an encouragement, or a reproach, because the sub- 
stance and the deeper spirit of the Scriptural words suit also such 
positions, though not all conditions, consequences, and require- 
ments of these latter applications are directly contained in the 
text itself. Therefore, make the text of the Holy Scripture a text 
of the whole life, the persons of Holy Scripture types of entire classes, 
and all a receptacle and a setting for different incisive applications. 
To many circumstances, sacraments, conditions of Catholic life 
the word of Christ might be justly applied: Si exaltatus fuero a 
terra omnia traham ad meipsum. 1 How many actually correct in- 
terpretations for the intellectually religious life are contained in 
the description of the Redeemer of the world, which He sent to 
St. John the Baptist: Caeci vident, claudi ambulant, leprosi mun- 
dantur, pauperes evangelizantur, etc. 2 

In a correct sensus accommodatus the persons who surround the 
crib and who come to the Infant Jesus may be considered types of 
entire states of persons who are called to the Infant Saviour. In 
Mary virgins and mothers are called — with the shepherds the 
1 John 12: 32. 2 See above p. 67: 2 a. 



156 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



plain and the simple people — with Joseph the fathers of fami- 
lies and the horny-handed laborers — with the kings the learned 
and those of high stations in life, etc. Therefore characterize, in 
the light of the Scriptures, these persons as representatives of the 
enumerated conditions. Show the graces, the blessings, and the 
precepts which they received from the Christmas Child, as repre- 
sentatives of these conditions. 1 Lead the people into the spirit 
and the sentiments with which these persons served and followed 
the divine Child, in a striking and impressive manner, as types 
of human vocations and conditions. Without overburdening 
yourself with too much in a sermon, descend to practical life, so 
that every one may put himself in the same condition as these 
persons and discover similar graces and behests for himself. 
This will furnish a sensus accommodatus, which will most surely 
fulfil the above admonition of St. Paul to Timothy concerning the 
use of Holy Scripture. Thus the Gospels of the Sundays after 
Pentecost might also be treated — f.i., the Gospel of the rich 
draught of fishes (labor in the name and with the blessing of 
Jesus). Rich in application of Holy Scripture, in the real spirit 
of a sensus accommodatus cum fundamento in re, is especially the 
liturgy. (See below the chapter on the eccl. year. Note, f.i., 
the communio of the Assumption, many Introits of the feasts of 
Saints, the lessons taken from the sapiential books on the feasts 
of the Mother of God, etc.) But, concerning the sensus accom- 
modatus, the following warnings must not be disregarded: 

(a) The sensus accommodatus never offers a dogmatic scrip- 
tural proof. I may not say, f.i., in the sense of a dogmatic argu- 
ment: "The Holy Scripture, or the Holy Ghost says this of Mary 
in the Scripture" — if I merely cite one text from the sapiential 
books, which the Church applies in a sensus accommodatus of the 
liturgy to Mary. But I may show thereby what the Church thinks 
of Mary, and in what sense she rightly applies the passages. (Com- 
pare Scheeben, Dogmatik: Marialogie: "Die Weisheitsbucher in 
der Marialogie," III, B. n. 1 545-1 550.) On the other hand cer- 
tain passages of the Canticle of Canticles may, without farther 
ado, be applied to Mary, because the Holy Ghost, in the descrip- 
tion of the soul as the bride of God, thinks, undoubtedly, primarily 
of Mary as a background of the picture. 

1 Compare below: The liturgy as a source: The Ecclesiastical Year: The octave 
of Christmas. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 157 



(b) The sensus accommodatus must not violate the literal sense. 
A French author is of the opinion that, if the feast of the Assump- 
tion of Mary fell upon the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, the word 
of the Pharisee in the Gospel might be applied in a higher sense 
to Mary: "I am not like other men." (Luke 18: 11.) The com- 
mon and the Christian sense revolts against such an accommoda- 
tion. (See below: Means of sacred eloquence: The proofs: False 
applications of scriptural passages, p. 635.) 

(c) The sensus accommodatus must be free from all trifling with 
art, from playfulness, from a frivolous sensitiveness, and from an 
intemperate moral affectation of exposition which constantly for- 
sakes the verbal meaning and strays off into by-ways. The great 
exegetes among the Fathers, in so many ways our own types, are 
often children of their age in regard to the allegorical inter- 
pretation of Scripture — which is nothing else than a species of 
sensus accommodatus; especially is this true of St. Ambrose and 
St. Gregory the Great. Therefore, do not imitate their faults! 
The ancients love to speak of a four-fold sense of Holy Scripture : 

Liter a gesta docet, quid credas allegoria 1 
Moralis quid agas, quid speres anagogia. 

Properly conceived and executed with good sense, this division 
has always a certain justification, 2 yet all may be reduced to a two- 
fold sense 3 intended by the Holy Ghost, the literal and the mystical 
sense,* to which the sensus accommmodatus (allegoricus theologorum 
cum fundamento in re) is connected. The moral and the anagogic 
sense is often the literal sense, but, at times, appears as a form of 
the sensus accommodatus in homilists and ascetics. 

The homilist should be directed, in the consultation of homi- 
letic and ascetic works and also of older biblical commentaries, 
by this clear and scientifically solid conception. 

1 Hieron. Sensus mysticus, typicus. 

2 Hettinger, Aphorismen, S. 237. 

3 Jungmann, Theorie der geistlichen Beredsamkeit, II. B. S. 710. 

4 In Holy Scripture the typical sense is called allegorical. Gal. 4: 24, etc. 
The expression used there: artva ecrriv dWrjyopovfxeva probably means that 
there is another sense besides the purely literal. Est enim duplex significatio: 
una per voces, alia per res, quas voces significant. Et hoc specialiter est in Sacra 
Scriptura et non in aliis; cum ejus auctor sit Deus, in cujus potestate est quod non 
solum voces ad designandum accomodet {quod etiam homo facere potest) sed etiam res- 
ipsas. Thomas, i. h. 1. See Dr. Schaefer, Erklaerung des Briefes an die Galater. 



158 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 6. The Homiletic Exegesis and the Entire Contents of 

Holy Scripture 

The homiletic exegesis must seek, above all, in its ideas, thoughts, 
sentences, and combinations the full historical dogmatic, moral, and 
ascetic contents. This is the main task of a scriptural meditation 
for the purpose of edification. It does not intend so much the 
solution or the making of difficulties, but rather seeks directly the 
enriching of the faithful mind and the amelioration of the heart. 
It is grateful to the scientifically critical exegesis, because it cau- 
tions it against going off into by-ways and directs it into the proper 
channels. As to itself, however, it builds farther upon the results 
of scientific exegesis and digs down deeper into the scientific ex- 
planations of the discovered golden veins, in order to bring the 
gold up to its full homiletic standard and splendor in value and in 
effect. 1 

The following methods may be directive in this matter: 

(A) Explain the close connection of the whole text and its parallel 
passages. How does Holy Scripture, f.i., conceive and explain 
in other passages and similar contexts the contemplated ideas of 
gratia, charitas, justitia, etc.? How do the just read ideas appear 
in strict relation to the literal sense? 

(B) Explain exegetically by means of dogma, moral, and ascetics. 
Ask yourself: What explanations are suggested by dogma and 
moral in relation to the just read ideas, thoughts, judgments, and 
other combinations of Holy Scripture? The scriptural explanation, 
for the purpose of the edification of a dogmatically and morally trained 
mind, possesses an immense, astonishing fertility. The truth in the 
Church is one: Holy Scripture is, as it were, the soul of theology, 
and theology is, again, the key of the Bible. Compare also the 
exegetical and homiletic conceptions, given in § 7 of the first 
chapter on Holy Scripture (pp. 146 sqq.). 

(C) Interpret by applying the passages to the various emotions 
and longings of your heart. The same passage of Holy Scripture, 
the same fact will appear, after repeated reading, in an entirely 
different light under various conditions of one's life and under 
changing dispositions of feeling. Read the different passages under 
various conditions of your heart, read them according to the differ- 
ent degrees of the culture of your mind: read them as a boy, as 

1 Compare Sailer, Pastoraltheologie, I S. 66. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 159 



a youth, as a man, as one advanced in years and in wisdom. Com- 
pare them with the conceptions and the requirements of different 
classes of people. And your observations will be precisely related 
to each other, in keenness, in correctness, and in depth as the power 
of observation is in the various degrees of age, of culture, etc. 1 
Thus, f.i., the reading of the history of Calvary during hours of 
great suffering may profit us personally and our homiletic con- 
ception more than ever before: Ut per patientiam et consolationem 
Scripturarum spent habeamus. 2 But it is especially liturgy which 
reveals to us, in an astonishing manner, the inexhaustible richness 
of Holy Scripture, and often of the same passages of various cele- 
brations and under different dispositions of the ecclesiastical year. 
Take, for instance, the impression of the history of the Passion 
during Holy Week, the reading of Isaias in Advent, of the manifold 
dispositions caused by the Psalms and verses of the Psalms in the 
Introits and the Graduals of the various feasts: Compare, f.i., the 
Psalm De Profundis of the office of the dead and of the vespers of 
Christmas, according to the spirit of the entire liturgy and of the 
antiphon which marks the sentiment of the occasion. 

(D) Expound the consequences and the fruits which would natur- 
ally follow from single words of Christ and scriptural texts, if car- 
ried out by the people in full earnestness. Would not the fundamen- 
tal thought of the doctrine of our Lord on oaths, f.i., contained in 
the Sermon on the Mount and His words: Let your speech be 
yea, yea; no, no — (Matt. 5 : 35) transform the world, if Chris- 
tians lived and acted, at all times, in the spirit of these words? 
The ideal, described in its consequences and fruits, pictures the 
doctrine in its perfect purity and encourages every one to live 
accordingly, as far as he is able, at least, as far as grave duty re- 
quires — and, in joyful animation — even beyond. Such themes are 
very fruitful: they point out precepts and duties from their most 
exalted view, and they diffuse the rays of the light of perfection 
among the people. This the popular preacher is obliged to do 
from time to time: Spiritus ubi vult spiratl — Qui potest caper e 
capiat! At another time he might describe, in a practical manner, 
the consequences which would follow from a serious performance, 
in our own fives, of a single saying of Christ, f.i.: What would 
become of us — both here and hereafter — if we comprehended and 
performed the first beatitude? It is of great importance to unfold 
1 The same, p. 75. 2 Rom. 15: 4. 



160 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



here, with impressive applications, the meaning of the words: "poor 
in spirit." Consult for this purpose, f.i., Grimm's "Leben Jesu," 
(Bergpredigt), the commentary of Cornelius a Lapide, the treatise 
on humility by St. Thomas, or Lehmkuhl, the dissertation on the 
simplicity, the humility, and the poverty in spirit of the New 
Testament by Weiss, Apologie (see Sachregister) , the meditation 
of De Ponte on this passage. Similar exegeses of consequences 
and fruits might be instituted on the themes: What impression 
did the words of the Epistle of the first Sunday of Advent make 
on St. Augustin? (Compare the Epistle and the history of the 
conversion, in the Confes stones.) What follows from the words of 
St. Paul on the Omnipresence of God: In ipso vivimus et movemur 
et sumus? 

(E) Give an exegetical explanation by comparing the biblical 
doctrine and the biblical teacher: Who teaches ? What does He teach ? 
Thus we might treat the text: Si oculus tuus scandalizet te, erue 
eum et projice abs te. (Matt. 5: 29 sqq.) Who teaches? Give a 
short sketch of Christ, the Son of God — possibly in a concentra- 
tion of a few miracles: God speaks words of eternal life. Who 
speaks ? Give a new sketch of Christ, the prefigured Son of Man : 
there is no yielding, no stain, no shadow of sin in Him. Who speaks ? 
He who does not extinguish the glimmering wick — but who never 
recalls any of His laws. What does He teach? Now follows — 
according to the above rapid and highly colored concentration in 
the light of the Gospel — the explanation of the passage itself 
and its powerful application: if a passion, a person, a sin, a proxi- 
mate occasion, money and riches were as dear to you as the apple 
of your eye, if they appeared as necessary as your hand, etc. — but 
if they seduce you to grievous sin — away with them ! — out with 
them! — break away from them! — though this should be as pain- 
ful to you as the plucking out of your eye, or the cutting off of 
your right hand . . . 

During these briefly conceived rhetorical comparisons of the 
doctrine with the teacher — Jesus Himself speaks in the center of 
the heart: He teaches, He separates, He tears down and builds up. 
These are the victories of homiletic exegesis, especially of the moral 
sermons. 1 Thus one may also compare the doctrine with the 

1 See f.i., Sailer's Pastoraltheologie I. S. 144 on the words: • 'Judge not." (Matt. 
7: 1) and on the text: "All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should 
do to you, do you also to them." (Matt. 7: 12) Pastoral I. S. 162. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 161 



deeds of Christ and of all the holy teachers of the Scripture, f.i., the 
doctrine: " Blessed are the meek" — with the meekness of Jesus — 
the principle of St. Paul : Charitas urget nos, — with his zeal for 
souls, etc. 

(F) Explain Scripture by means of concentration, of paintings 
and ethical views in connection with biblical passages. Thus, f. i. , on 
the second Sunday of Advent, a triumphant character sketch of 
Christ Jesus, the Redeemer, could be composed, through homi- 
letic, literal and mystical, and, by means of exegesis, parallel pas- 
sages and some striking facts, in connection with the words: Caeci 
vident, claudi ambulant, etc. In doing this the hearers must be 
led, in spirit, into the midst of the blind and the lame, etc., and 
mightily aroused to the necessity of a redemption, to the cry of 
misery for a Saviour. 1 The evangelical history especially presents 
unique and pregnant character sketches of Christ, by means of 
which the figure of the Redeemer may be constantly presented 
from many sides, if the work be done through parallel facts and 
passages and striking chapters of dogma: f.i., Jesus: Who baptizes 
with fire and the Holy Ghost; the Man with a fan in the hand, Who 
sweeps His floor — the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of 
the world (Luke 3: 16, 17; John 1: 29), etc. 

(G) Explain, sharply and clearly, the real points of similarity 
(tertium comparationis) of the similes and of the parables of Scripture, 
in the spirit of the respective texts and the contexts. See below: Means 
of sacred eloquence — Means for the formation of ideas: The 
parables, pp. 610 sqq. 

(H) Explain by means of a solid paraphrasing of the texts. Insti- 
tute exercises, by means of solid meditation, in paraphrasing the 
sacred text. The ancient school defines it thus: Est paraphrasis 
non translatio sed liberius quoddam commentarii perpetui genus 
quasi ex persona auctoris. It is not a translation, but a free, flowing 
explanation in connection with the contents, the text and the 
translation of the text, attributed, as it were, to the sacred author 
himself. Rich narratives (Compare, f.i., Acts, c. II and III) and 
difficult contexts of the apostolic letters are most easily paraphrased : 
thus a sort of free homily is created, which, however, should not 
inundate the simple and deep biblical sense with watered synony- 
mous and tautological expressions, but should develop its contents 
clearly and refreshingly. 

1 Compare p. 67, 2 a. 



i62 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Thus many difficult passages of the Pauline letters, f.i., might be 
paraphrased in close connection with the contents of the text. Take 
of the difficult passages and constructions only the pregnant ideas con- 
tained in the meaning of the words, and paraphrase them freely. For 
instance: what is (baptism? what does it effect? — according to Rom. 
c. 6. It is a crucifixion of the old man with Christ — a burial of the old 
man with Christ — a resurrection of the new man with Christ. The last 
thought might possibly be paraphrased, in the spirit of the chapter, 
under the following view-points : The Father resuscitated Christ by means 
of the glory of His divinity. Christ resuscitates us in baptism (and in 
confession) by the glory of sanctifying grace, which is a reflection of His 
divinity. The risen Christ no longer carries sin nor will He die again. 
We, resurrected through grace (baptismal grace — second baptism of 
penance), should be no longer bearers of (personal) sin. There is within 
us no room, no place any longer for death, the death of the soul, for 
mortal sin. The grace of baptism, received or regained, cries out through 
our whole being : No room any longer for Satan and sin ! At any price — 
no more mortal sin! 

The same text, Rom. c. 6, might also be paraphrased by the effects of 
baptism, described in dogma and in moral. For this purpose use also 
the Epistle of Holy Saturday, of Easter, the entire office of Low Satur- 
day and Sunday. The baptismal effects described by Lehmkuhl, 
Theolog. Moral, II. n. 50, might be splendidly combined with the Pauline 
ideas. Lehmkuhl says: Effectus baptismi brevi hac voce regenerations 
supernaturalis continetur: Haec regeneratio est: nova vita — gratia — 
impressio characteris — deletio peccati — remissio omnis reatus poenae — 
jus quoddam ad auxilia actualis gratiae. 

Thus we obtain the following scheme for a paraphrase: Baptism — a 
second birth (denuo nasci) to supernatural life {regeneratio, John 3). 
And this regeneration is : (a) a crucifixion of the old man with Christ — 
Christ the bearer of sin is nailed to the cross — the penalty of our sins 
is taken away, destroyed, cancelled, nailed to the cross (John 1 : 14). The 
same is also effected by baptism (and by penance) in general: Away 
with the old man of sin: no longer shall the first Adam reign — no, 
but the second, (b) A burial of the old man with Christ: How? — 
first by a deletio peccati originalis et personalis — this becomes more 
perfect through the deletio omnis reatus poenae). 1 Satan no longer has 
a right to the soul (see the rite of baptism), (c) A resurrection with 
Christ: i.e., (a) the life of Christ in us gratia sanctificans — "Of the divinity 
of Christ there is something within us": Nova vita, in novitate vitae am- 

1 This might also be carried out, mutatis mutandis, analogically in a sermon on 
the effects of confession, especially on the fruits of a day of indulgence, and upon 
a plenary indulgence. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 163 



bulemus; (fi) the character of Christ within us. Impressio charac- 
teris (compare the Epistle of Easter). We are brothers of Christ risen, 
members of His kingdom, of the Church: In novitate vitae ambulemus. 
A new glory in Christ, (y) The right of Christ within us: Jus ad gratias 
actuates pro vita Christiana. Upon this background an instruction might 
be given on the only gift of baptism to the baptized ; an admonition might 
be interwoven on the conscientious and timely care of the baptism of 
children, great encouragement might be given to preserve the baptismal 
grace, to renew and to secure it (through perfect contrition and sorrow 
for sins every evening), and to approach it again most closely by pen- 
ance and communion and by a plenary indulgence. Or you might show 
the dignity of a Christian and its arch-enemy — mortal sin. According 
to the time in which such a sermon is given, f.i., on Easter-Monday, on 
some Sunday of Easter-tide, on Trinity Sunday — on the Sunday with 
the Gospel Epheta: Be thou opened, (p. 599, n. 11), the corresponding 
liturgy ought to be utilized. By such biblical paraphrases the routine 
of the catechism on the effects of baptism would be placed into an 
entirely new light: the preacher would become a pater familias qui 
profert nova et Vetera. 

(I) Gather all this into one edifying, solid, popular exegesis. Upon 
a basis of the reading and the study of commentaries and his own 
homiletic interpretation the preacher should now endeavor to 
explain passages and chapters of Holy Scripture to his hearers 
from the pulpit and not merely quote them; he should apply them 
practically and not merely mention them theoretically. 

Many preachers fail to succeed because they quote passages of 
Holy Scripture as proofs without any explanation, and thereby 
often simply pile up a great selection of unexplained scriptural 
passages, — thinking that thereby they have used Holy Scripture 
most profitably. The people are thus never led into the meaning, 
spirit, and power of the Bible: it always remains to them a closed 
casket. The devil himself can quote Scriptural texts. (Matt., 
c. 4.) By using all means of sacred eloquence, the preacher must 
endeavor to unfold lovingly the full force of the scriptural 
proofs, in all their details and their full extent, in all their 
power and beauty, earnestness, and consolation, their authority 
and in all their super-terrestrial loveliness. Thus the preacher 
takes the jewels, as it were, from the precious golden caskets 
of the scriptural word (verbum tuum super aurum et topazion), 
he places them carefully and lovingly into the brilliant sunlight 
of faith before the intellectual eyes of his hearers, he directs their 



164 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



attention to their entire divine glory, power, and fulness, to the 
peaceful consolation and the immeasurable love which speak and 
shine forth from the words of God, until the hearers themselves 
begin to be astonished and aroused, and comprehend all that is 
contained in these quoted scriptural words, all that follows from 
them, and how all this acts mightily and irresistibly upon the 
thoughts and lives of every one. And the hearers will be obliged 
to repeat, over and over again : It is the Saviour Who teaches us 
these great truths — He Himself announces to us these precepts: 
He Himself applies them as a rule to our lives. It is the Holy 
Ghost Himself Who speaks, explains, demands, reproves, and in- 
vites — and not merely the human lips of the priest. 

After the Saviour had given that marvelous biblical lesson to 
the disciples on the way to Emmaus (Luke 24: 27), they said to 
each other: "Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He 
spoke in the way and opened to us the Scriptures?" Something 
like this the homiletic exegesis of the Catholic preacher should 
accomplish. (Luke 24: 32.) 

The homiletic exegesis always had a preference in the practise 
of great preachers: f.i., of a Chrysostom, an Augustin, a Bossuet, 
a Bourdaloue, and excellent examples are found in Sailer, Foerster, 
Eberhard. 

(J) Finally, arrange the exegetical materials, — either 

(a) into an exegetical or thematic homily (compare the chapter of 
Book VI on the various kinds of sacred eloquence) or 

(b) insert them into the other arrangements of sermons as biblical 
proofs, exhortation, exegesis, applications or emotion, as admonitions 
contained in the setting of Holy Scripture, etc. 



N.B. Several examples of homiletic exegesis are found in other 
places of these studies. 

CHAPTER II 
THE LITURGY 

Liturgy is next to Holy Scripture the richest source of a sermon. 
The proof of this assertion is found: 

1. In the homiletic comparison of liturgy with Holy Scripture. 

2. In the homiletic consideration of liturgy in general. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 165 



3. In the homiletic consideration of the ecclesiastical year in 
particular. 

ARTICLE I. THE HOMILETIC COMPARISON OF LITURGY WITH 
HOLY SCRIPTURE 

1. A mere superficial examination of sacred liturgy shows that 
the liturgical books are mainly composed of extracts and texts of 
Holy Scripture, and that the language of the liturgy is the language 
of the Bible. From this it follows that the proofs for an extraor- 
dinary homiletic significance of Holy Scripture have force also in 
regard to the homiletic excellence of the liturgy. 

2. But a deeper examination of the liturgy will enable us to 
find therein a carefully planned evolution of the entire Holy Scrip- 
ture, and indeed in a unique and dramatic vividness, closely con- 
nected with divine worship and the dispensation of the graces of 
the Church, with Christian thought and life. 

This we shall fully prove by a closer consideration of the ecclesi- 
astical year. But from the scriptural contents of the liturgy it 
follows that the formerly adduced proofs (see p. 94 sqq.), which 
present Holy Scripture as the first source of sermons, likewise testify 
to the homiletic significance of the liturgy. 

Therefore, we may here justly dispense with a more minute 
comparison between the Scriptures and the liturgy. 

ARTICLE II. HOMILETIC CONSIDERATIONS OF LITURGY LN GENERAL 

Here also we may be very brief; for in the chapter on the prac- 
tical sermon (Book II, Chapter I, Art. II Point II, pp. 55 sqq., 
and Art. Ill, p. 67) the general homiletic significance of the liturgy 
was very positively emphasized and proven by theological reasons 
and also by practical examples. 

Here we should like to recall to mind that: 

1. Liturgy in general, and, especially, the ecclesiastical year, is a 
repetition and a renewal of the life of Christ, — and Christ is the 
subject of the Catholic sermon. 

2. The mass — and the sacramental liturgy — effects precisely 
this remembrance and renewal of the life of Jesus, in the fullest 
sense of the word, and effects also an external presentation thereof 
in its rites — that therefore the sacramental liturgy constitutes a 
real book of sermons on Christ. We also desire to recall to mind 
that: 



166 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



3. Every mass-formulary and every office contains within itself 
a renewal and a repetition of every point of moment, mystery, 
doctrine, precept or grace of Jesus; that, therefore, through liturgy 
everything in religion appears as a sequel of Christ, which is of 
immeasurable apologetic and pastoral significance. We emphasize 
finally that: 

4. The entire liturgy is intended to be a grand compendium of 
all religious truths, graces, and requirements, and, therefore, pre- 
cisely, is a first source of sermons. 

In these various points of view there are as many proofs of the 
unique significance of liturgy as there are proofs of its source for 
sermons. 

The theoretic and practical exposition of the relation of the 
liturgy to the practical selection of themes and the determination 
of aims, have sufficiently established these proofs. (See pp. 55-65 
and 67-72.) The following chapter is based upon this same thesis 
as a new convincing proof. 

Here we shall simply draw special attention to some of the 
characteristic points of ecclesiastical liturgy, for the orientation of 
a scientifically founded and practically fruitful consideration of 
the ecclesiastical rite and in order to avoid narrowness. 

1. The dogmatic side of liturgy. The ecclesiastical year is an 
exposition and, at the same time, a fruit of the entire doctrinal 
faith of the Church: lex credendi est lex orandi. 

2. A view of liturgy in relation to divine worship. The liturgy of 
the ecclesiastical year is the prayer and the sacrifice of the Church 
herself, of the sponsa Christi sine macula et ruga — a grand divine 
service in nomine Ecclesiae to the Almighty in spirit and in truth. 

3. The sacramental side of the liturgy. The liturgy is not only 
a remembrance, but also a renewal of the life of the grace of 
Jesus within us by means of sacrifice, the sacraments, and the 
sacramentals. 

4. The historical side of the liturgy. The present liturgy is the 
fruit of a rich historical development, which is of an extraordinary 
value for a correct and a deeper conception. The essential, espe- 
cially the sacramental, part of liturgy was always the same, but 
therewith arose a rich liturgical evolution of a vast development, 
of reforms and epochs of a quiet continuous construction. This 
was a fruit of the inner power of the Church and a consequence of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 167 



ever-changing temporal necessities (compare, f.i., the time of the 
catacombs with the time that followed the edict of Constantine) , 
brought about by the enactments of laws from above as well as by 
the impulse of individual churches or persons (compare, f.i., the 
feast of Corpus Christi, of the Sacred Heart) under the direction of 
the Holy Ghost. The grandest reforms of the liturgy and of the 
ecclesiastical year took place in the fourth century, then in the days 
of Gregory the Great, and in the days after the council of Trent. 
A hypercritical conception merely asks: Which was the first genesis, 
the original meaning of a feast, of a ceremony, of a symbol? And 
it will deny it any deeper significance not already admitted in 
primitive days. A sane historical conception puts the first question 
likewise, but combines it with a second series of questions of re- 
search: How was the feast, the ceremony, this symbol formed in 
the course of time? Was this or that ceremony, from the begin- 
ning, a bearer of a great idea, or was it perhaps originally only a 
symbol of a purely natural and practical circumstantial influence 
and became only later a bearer of symbolical ideas? (Compare 
the evolution of the feast of Christmas and of Epiphany — the 
history of the pascal candle, of the candelabrum of Holy Week, etc.) 
Were some or other parts of the liturgy originally or only later 
brought into a closer connection and thus further developed? 
What, according to the rule of this investigation, is the scientific, 
incontestable, or at least the most probably correct meaning of 
the several parts and ceremonies of the present Roman liturgy? 
To what further ideas and emotions do the text, the symbol, and 
the Psalms serve to give the mind a free flight, yet without any 
fantastical artificial effort? How differently, f.i., will these ques- 
tions be answered according to their two-fold view-point: Has the 
feast of St. Stephen a deeper relation to the feast of Christmas? 
or: How is the psalm, Be profundis of the Christmas vespers and 
that of the office of the dead to be liturgically and homiletically 
understood? 1 

5. The ascetic-homiletic side of the liturgy. The liturgy intends 
to convey to the intelligent and sympathetic Christian the full 
knowledge of its essence and extent. But it strives to bring 
its richness not only into the intellectual, but also into the ethi- 
cal possession of Catholics. And thus all the momentous points 
of liturgy coalesce into one great triumphant sermon for the Cath- 
1 Compare the remarks on the Psalms, p. 124. 



1 68 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



olic people. Individual parts of the liturgy are primarily and 
directly homiletic, thus, f.i., the lessons and the many other parts 
of the mass of the catechumens. Other parts — and these are the 
greater — become secondarily, i.e., besides their first significance 
originally pertaining to divine service — a sermon for the people. 
Thus the assertion may be made that liturgy has a homiletic 
character. 

6. The esthetic side of liturgy. Liturgy is not merely a dry 
system of ideas, but altogether, in its unity and multiplicity, a 
grand impressive work of the Holy Ghost in the Church, which is 
unequalled on earth. An exhaustive proof hereof is given by 
every deeper penetration into the form and spirit of liturgy. Lit- 
urgy, therefore, animates the sermon with a breath of a deep and 
real poetry. 

Corollary I. Of the divine and the human side of liturgy. Liturgy 
is a work of the Spirit of God. But it is a work of the Spirit of God, 
which arose in the midst of a rich human co-operation. The liturgical 
books are not inspired, as are the books of Holy Scripture. Though, 
fundamentally and theologically considered, they share in the infalli- 
bility of the Church, still the liturgy did not remain, in all its details, 
free from error: here and there it shows the weakness of human times 
and developments. Amongst these may be numbered some of the legends, 
f.i., and allegories, etc. The church herself acknowledges these human 
sides through her reforms in this matter. This should also be considered 
by the preacher whenever he draws from liturgical sources. 

Corollary II. Of the sensus accommodatus in liturgy. Not infre- 
quently does liturgy use passages of Holy Scripture, in the so-called 
sensus accommodatus. (See above pp. 156 sqq.) But often this liturgical 
use is not a mere sensus accommodatus, but a real typical sense, founded 
on the scriptural test. (Compare, f.i., the messianic psalms of the 
office of Christmas and of Epiphany). The liturgical application of 
scriptural passages often offers, especially in the ideas of feasts, the 
richest dogmatic-ascetic development of its full meaning. (Compare, 
f.i., the Introit, the Epistle, and the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent 
— and also the Introits, the Graduals,, antiphons, Epistles, and the 
Gospels of innumerable feasts and of many Sundays.) At times they 
are ingeniously pointed momentous illuminations of scriptural texts, 
at times, though seldom, somewhat far-fetched and risky explanations 
and allusions. (Compare, f.i., the office of the Spineae Coronae). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 169 



ARTICLE III. A HOMILETIC CONSIDERATION OF THE 
ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR 

The real key for a solid and fruitful conception of liturgy, as a source 
and school of sacred eloquence, is a deeper conception of the ecclesiastical 
year. 

We shall treat of the ecclesiastical year more fully than is usually 
the case in homiletic works. Sometimes the ecclesiastical year is very 
briefly treated in many liturgical text-books. Again, larger works are 
not always accessible to many. Often there is not sufficient time to 
study them minutely. And, finally, we consider the practical intro- 
duction into the inexhaustible treasury of the ecclesiastical year, for 
the purpose of stimulating personal independent work in this field, one 
of the most important tasks of the homilist. The preacher, who has 
learned to draw richly from the liturgy of the ecclesiastical year for his 
preaching activity, and who has learned to explain the Holy Scripture 
with it — to him the two richest fountains for announcing the divine 
word bubble over with a fulness and freshness, that to him the words 
of Holy Scripture may be justly applied: Panis ei datus est, aquae ejus 
fideles sunt. (Isa. 33: 16; see above, pp. 45 and 46.) 

We will now begin to describe the ecclesiastical year in detail. 

§ 1. The Meaning of the Liturgical Time 

Time is a passing motion (objectively considered: a constantly 
following succession, which we meet in the phenomena of the inner 
and the outer world). Eternity is the permanent end. 1 The 
development which takes place in the various stages of human life 
is a motion to the end, through time to eternity. Ut sic transeamus 
per haec bona temporalia, tit non amittamus aeterna. (Prayer of the 
Church.) Time is placed at our disposal that, with God's grace, 
we may attain our eternal salvation: Omnia vestra sunt . . . vita, 
mors , praesentia, futura . . . vos autem Christi. (I Cor. 3: 22-23.) 
Time is also a means to the end. Therefore the Apostle designates 
the true Christians as: tempus redimentes. (Eph. 5: 16.) In the 
same spirit the ascetics use the beautiful words ascribed to St. 
Bernard: Tempus tantum valet quantum sanguis Christi, quantum 
totum coelum. In order to induce us to acquire and use time for 

1 Space and time are extensively and protensively potential infinite greatness. 
They are a terrestrial image of eternity. Infinite space, in reality and in the true 
sense of the word, not merely a potential, but an actual, and, in the fullest sense of 
the word, infinite time and numbers cannot possibly be demonstrated. 



170 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



our supernatural good, the Church dedicated the whole of time 
constantly recurring during the entire ecclesiastical year. There- 
fore, the words of the Church, which she borrows from the lips of 
the Apostle Paul (II Cor. 6: 2 sqq.): Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, 
ecce nunc dies salutis — exhortamur vos fratres, ne in vacuum gratiam 
Dei recipiatis — are also applicable to the entire sacred year. In 
so far we shall speak of the liturgical year. (Compare in relation 
to the religious importance of time, the masses, and the office, but 
especially the Epistles and the Gospels of the first Sunday of Advent, 
of the Sunday in Septuagesima, of the first Sunday of Lent, and of 
the liturgy of the ember days.) 

§ 2. The Idea of the Ecclesiastical Year 1 

1. What is the fundamental idea of the ecclesiastical year? If we 
study the ecclesiastical year of the missal, the breviary, and of 
the other liturgical books, and scrutinize more closely its practical 
application in the legislation of the Church, the life of Jesus will 
become manifest as the center of the ecclesiastical year. The ecclesias- 
tical year is the direct annual repetition and renewal of the life of 
Jesus among us. The antecedents, the life, the labor, the suffering, 
the sacrifice, the resurrection, the glorification, and the completion 
of the work of Jesus, are annually placed before us. The sacrifice 
and the graces of Jesus are actually renewed thereby and applied 
to the faithful. 

The object of the ecclesiastical year is therefore twofold: glori- 
fication of God, divine worship — and the sanctification and hap- 
piness of men : Gloria in excelsis Deo — Pax hominibus. The 
ecclesiastical year ought to accomplish within us what St. Paul 
(Gal. 2: 20) expresses by the words: Vivo autem,jam non ego: vivit 
vero in me Christus. (See above, p. 55.) 

2. How is this idea carried out? The following important con- 
siderations will answer this question: 

(a) A very close natural psychological consideration. If we place 
ourselves into the position of the disciples we will perceive and 
feel at once how the first feast-days arose in an artless manner. 
When, f.i., the day of the resurrection of Jesus recurred the first 

literature: Amberger, Pastoraltheologie; Gueranger, Eccles. Year. Kellner, 
Heortology; Sailer, Pastoraltheologie, HE. B. Dippel, Kirchenjahr; Baeumer, 
Geschichte des Breviers; Propst, Dis Liturgie der drei ersten Jahrhunderte. Also 
interesting notes in Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der Paepste; Duchesne, Origin of 
Christian Worship. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 171 



time, how could it have been possible for the Apostles to regard it 
as an ordinary day? "Today, one year ago, on this very day, our 
Lord arose from the grave and came to us and said: " Peace be to 
you." "How could it have been possible to forget this day . . . 
or not to celebrate it, since He could not be forgotten?" Thus 
the first great feasts arose among the Christians: thus they 
established themselves, as it were. (See Sailer, Pastoraltheologie, 
III, B. Abtl. 6: "Der Priester zum Besten seiner Gemeinde," 
pp. 123-129.) 

(b) The supernatural consideration of the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost and of the legislation of the Church. The Church responded to 
this inclination of the human heart and was moved by the Holy 
Ghost, directing her to ordain the solemnity of the feasts of the 
ecclesiastical year thoughtfully and canonically, and to combine 
it with the life of the divine worship and of the sacraments. This 
was done in connection with the life of Jesus, in connection with 
the Jewish liturgy of the Old Law, in connection with the sacra- 
mental and ethical continuation of the life of Jesus in the Church, 
with a thoughtful leaning toward the course of nature and of the 
civil year, and not infrequently through a wise transformation of 
individual pagan feasts, to the solemnity of which a new and a 
higher meaning and a new form were given. 

(c) The important consideration of the historical formation and 
development. In the course of time natural and supernatural con- 
siderations combined and gave an impetus to farther development. 
This is shown by archeological investigation which alone secures 
us against false conceptions, idealistic exaggerations, and artificial 
combinations as well as against spiritless emptiness. The celebration 
of Sundays is proof, in behalf of the remotest days of the Church, 
of the Christian continuation of the Sabbath commanded by God, 
and which, by apostolic decree, was transferred to the first day of 
the week, and was stamped as a celebration of the redemption and 
of the resurrection, without, however, allowing the ancient idea of 
Sabbath-rest, for and in God, to be absorbed by the new idea. 
Of the Christian solemn feasts the ancient Church knew Easter 
and Pentecost, which gradually were transferred to Sundays. To 
these Epiphany was added in the fourth century or even earlier, 
and in the course of the fourth century the feast of Christmas. 
At the end of the persecution and at the beginning of the solemn 
public divine worship a richer development of the ecclesiastical 



172 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



year began. This led to the celebrated liturgical reformation of the 
fourth century. 1 The first additions to the ecclesiastical year, after 
this, were the preparations for the solemn feasts, the oldest of which 
was the Quadragesima, and the octaves of the solemn feasts, the 
earliest of which was the octave of Easter. To this was added 
the original inner connection between Easter and Pentecost. When 
Epiphany arose it gradually received an octave and was placed 
into, though a somewhat loose, connection with Easter. Christ- 
mas came later and constantly grew in splendor; it received like- 
wise a kind of a preparatory time; at first a simple fast, from 
which later on the liturgical Advent was formed, etc. During the 
first six centuries the ordinary Sundays of the year (Dominicae 
quotidianae) had no liturgical standing, with the exception of 
Quadragesima and those which are the marking stones and boun- 
daries of solemnities. Then arose for the Sundays a species of 
Commune Dominicarum, a number of masses of voluntary selec- 
tions. (Compare the origin of Trinity Sunday.) In the Sacra- 
mentarium Gelasianum only the Sundays of Lent and the Sundays 
between Easter and Pentecost have a special liturgical character. 
But the development hastened to its final step: to a combination of 
cycles of feasts among themselves, into one harmonious whole — to a full 
celebration of the life and of the redeeming work of Christ Jesus. 
From the sixth to the eighth century the development was mainly 
completed. The so-called Sacramentarium Gregorianum, rather its 
transformation between 784 and 791, shows, on the whole, the 
present ecclesiastical year. The Sundays after Pentecost were the 
latest fitted into the frame of the ecclesiastical year, since Pentecost 
brought the redeeming work of Christ, as it were, to a close, and 
thus there was wanting for the following weeks a strict continuation 
of historical matter. This combination continued down to the 
latter part of the middle ages, and even today the relation of these 
Sundays among themselves is a comparatively loose one. The 
Western Church never celebrated facts of ecclesiastical history, 
though the Greek Church did, f.i., the feast of the general councils, 
the feast of orthodoxy (the termination of iconoclasm). The rea- 
sons for the establishment of certain feasts in the Western Church, 
f.i. , of the Holy Rosary, of the Transfiguration of our Lord, of the 
feast of the Name of Mary, of the feast B. M. de Mercede Redemp- 

1 See Propst, Liturgie des vierten Jahrhimderts und deren Reform, Muenster, 
1. W. 1893. Duchesne, Origin of Christian Worship. Dr. Kraus, Realenzyklopaedie. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 173 



tionis Captivorum, might possibly form an analogy. Thus arche- 
ology shows us the gradual formation and the development of the 
ecclesiastical year. The ecclesiastical year is a living organism 
which is still constantly growing, it develops new buds, and in the 
present and future days experiences certain changes and will con- 
tinue to experience them. (See art. II, n. 4, pp. 166 sqq.) 

§ 3. The Course of the Ecclesiastical Year 

The ecclesiastical year is divided into three great cycles of 
feasts. 1. The cycle of Christmas. 2. The cycle of Easter. 3. The 
cycle of Pentecost. The nativity of Christ forms the center of 
the first, the Passion and the Resurrection the zenith of the second, 
and the mission of the Holy Ghost by Christ and His continued 
life in the Church the principal point in the third cycle of feasts. 
Within these three cycles of feasts the antecedents of the birth, 
the life, and the continuation of Christ are presented and renewed. 
Some authors prefer a two-fold division of the ecclesiastical year: 
The Christmas and Easter cycle. Pentecost and its octave they 
regard as the fruit of Easter. For this conception of Pentecost 
the liturgy itself offers some excuse. Nevertheless, the time after 
Pentecost to the beginning of Advent forms its own cycle and 
could only be embodied into the Easter cycle in a rather forced 
manner. 

§ 4. The Course of the Christmas Cycle 

The Christmas cycle recalls to mind the Incarnation of Christ 
and renews its grace: Christus natus est nobis (Invitatorium of 
matins) — apparuit gratia Dei Salvatoris nostri (Epistle of the first 
mass of Christmas). 

The Christmas cycle has: 

(a) A preparatory celebration (Advent). 

(b) A first solemn feast with a great solemnity (Christmas and 
its octave). 

(c) A second solemn feast with solemnities (Epiphany with an 
octave). 

(d) An after celebration (the Sundays and weeks after Epiphany 
to Septuagesima). 



174 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 5. The Preparatory Celebration. Advent 

1. The history of Advent. 1 Christmas, like Easter, had obtained 
besides a vigil and octave also a longer preparatory time. The latter 
could not, of course, precede the feast. It rather required a long time 
for organisation, and since the feast itself had only been introduced in 
the middle of the fourth century, it is not surprising that the first definite 
mention of Advent only occurs officially at the close of the sixth century. 2 

The collection of the homilies of Gregory the Great begins with a ser- 
mon for the second Sunday of Advent. 3 The Gelasianum presents five 
masses for Advent, which are placed at the end of the second book. 
They are as improperly put here in this position as are the sixteen masses 
of the Sundays after Pentecost. According to the more ancient rite 
Advent comprised five weeks, which were reduced to four by Gregory VII. 

A sort of a preparatory celebration or a time for the preparation for 
Christmas existed, however, prior to this. It consisted, analogically 
to the preparation for Easter, in a fast, which began on St. Martin's 
day (November n) and lasted till Christmas: Mondays, Wednesdays, 
and Saturdays were fast-days, the same as in Lent. In this manner the 
preparation for the advent of the Redeemer was instituted in Gaul ever 
since the days of Bishop Perpetuus of Tours (died 491) in the fifth 
century, as may be gathered from contemporaneous historical reports. 4 
This fast was not observed in Rome, but it developed Advent into a 
liturgical part of the ecclesiastical year and incorporated it therein. Its 
liturgy, during the middle ages, was put on an equality with that of 
Lent and the chanting of the Gloria was omitted during the time of 
Advent. 

If the Greek Church did not adopt a liturgical preparatory celebra- 
tion for Christmas, nevertheless it observes, ever since the eighth cen- 
tury, the fast which lasts from St. Philip's day (Nov. 14), to December 
25, therefore — six weeks. 6 According to the Mozarabic and the 
Milanese rite Advent lasted as long. 

After the Advent celebration had been embodied into the ecclesi- 
astical year in Rome, it spread throughout the West. We find it in 
the ancient Spanish rite, and really with five Sundays of Advent, about 
the year 650 in the lectionary of Silos. Its adoption in the Franconian 
empire required a much longer time, though a basis for it had already 
been prepared by Perpetuus for the liturgical books of the seventh 

1 We give for the history of Advent a short review and Kellner's Heortology. 

2 See the article on Advent by Kruell and Kraus — Realenzykl. 

3 Greg. M. Horn, in evang. I, horn. 1. 6, 7, 20. Migne 76, 1078 sqq. 

4 Gregor. Tur., Hist. Fr. X. 31. Cone. Matiscon, can. 9. 

6 The Copts also observe a fast of Advent, which begins on the 19, Athyr (Nov. 
15). Wuestenfeld, Synaxarium of Michael of Atriba sub 15. Nov. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



century; the lectionary of Luxeuil, and the so-called Missale Gothico- 
Gallicanum, edited by Mabillon, begin with the Vigilia Natalis Dornini, 
without Advent. In Rome itself the arrangement must have been 
adopted in the sixth century, since the collection of the sermons of 
St. Augustin and Leo I show no trace thereof. 

The common notion that the four weeks of Advent symbolize four 
thousand years (?) (exegetically untenable) from Adam to Christ, finds 
not the least support in liturgy. (See p. 199.) 

Older than Advent itself is the fast of Advent. Long before the liturgy 
of Advent had impressed its seal upon the fast, and had been adopted, 
the preparation for the Advent of the Saviour had already begun by a 
fast and this fast began with the feast of St. Martin (Nov. 11). It 
covered, therefore, forty-two days, and it may be that in its introduc- 
tion the duration of the days of Lent before Easter was considered. 
This fast was observed in Gaul according to the canon of the first synod 
of Macon (581) so that the fast lasted, on Wednesdays, Fridays, and 
Saturdays, from the feast of St. Martin to Christmas and the rite of 
the mass was to be conformed to that of Lent (Sacrificia quadragesimali 
ordine celebrari)} In the ecclesiastical province of Tours the precept 
of fasting was binding only on the monks. But these were to fast on all 
days during the month of December until Christmas. 2 

In regard to the duration of Advent it may be said that until the 
tenth century many advocated the five weeks. It was especially em- 
phasized in favor of this opinion that according to the opposite practice, 
if Christmas occurred on a Monday, Advent strictly computed would 
only last three weeks. Witnesses of later times of the two-fold practise 
are Amalarius and Abbo of Fleury, 3 Although the duration of four weeks 
had already been received in France in the eighth century, as far as it 
was influenced by Rome. 4 In later times this was especially advocated 
by Berno of Reichenau, the composer of the Micrologos. 5 

Differing from this we have the Milanese rite and the Mozarabic 
which extend the duration of Advent to six weeks, equalising Lent in 
its duration. 6 

2. The character of Advent. Advent is a time of preparation 
for the coming of the Lord. There is a three-fold advent of the 
Lord: the advent in the flesh; the advent into our hearts; and the 
advent to judgment in power and majesty. During Advent we 
celebrate the expectation of the first coming of Christ; but ideas 

1 Matiscon. I can. 9. 

2 Turon. II. can. 27, anno 567. 

3 Amalarius, De eccl. off. III. 40. IV. 30. Abbo, Apolog. Migne 139, 472. 

4 F.i., in the Calendarium Frontonis. 

5 Migne, 142, 1079, 1088. fl Binterim, V. 167; Migne 85, 139. 



176 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of the second and the third coming penetrate the whole liturgy. 
The liturgical fundamental character of Advent is: 

(a) Penance. This is indicated by the purple vestments — 
the appearance of the penitential preacher, John the Baptist, in 
the Gospels — the forbidden time (for the solemnization of mar- 
riages) — the ember days. But there is not such a complete peni- 
tential sorrow as in Lent: the allelujah is sung. 

(b) Recollection. Prayer, the lessons, the entire divine worship 
invite recollection: in our country even nature indicates this 
character. 

(c) A longing after the Redeemer. The weeks of Advent typify 
the thousands of years before Christ. The lessons, which are 
taken from Isaias, the orations, the Gospels of the Sundays, the 
antiphons of the office de tempore, but especially the large O-anti- 
phons from the seventeenth of December bear this character and 
are expressions of a mighty and energetic longing for Christ. Ad- 
vent is therefore the solemn time of the virtue of Hope. 

3. The development of Advent. In the present Roman liturgy 
Advent lasts four weeks (though not always complete). There is: 

(a) A remote preparation, from the first to the third Sunday. 
The invitatorium announces: Re gem venturum Dominum: venite 
adoremus. 

(b) A proximate preparation, beginning with the third Sunday. 
The invitatorium recites that the Lord is nigh: Prope est jam Domi- 
nus: venite adoremus. The Christmas joy already penetrates it: 
Gaudete in Domino, iterum dico gaudete: Dominus enim prope est. 

(c) A more proximate preparation, beginning with the seven- 
teenth December. These days are indicated by the glorious 
O-antiphons. They constitute a solemn novena of longing for 
the Messias, and have a higher liturgical rank. 

(d) An immediate preparation: the solemnly established vigil 
of Christmas. 

§ 6. The First Sunday of Advent 1 

We will treat of this Sunday, considered from its liturgical 
side, somewhat more fully: first, because it is the first boundary 
stone of the ecclesiastical year — and secondly, to furnish a more 
richly developed example for personal exercise. For an explana- 
tion of the Gospels of Advent we refer to Dr. Keppler's "Advent- 
1 Compare pp. 57, 58, 59, 60. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



177 



perikopen," and to Foerster's "Homilien und Sonntagspredigten." 
(See pp. 57, 58, 59, 60.) We shall develop the fundamental thoughts 
of each of the most prominent Sundays; the principal dispositions 
and the entire picture of the liturgy. In the suggestions for the 
selection of themes we will pay special attention, likewise, to the 
accompanying thoughts. We shall, however, confine ourselves in 
the consideration of many Sundays to a description of the main 
ideas. 

L The fundamental idea of the liturgy — The Coming of Christ. 
The first Sunday of Advent has a double character. We are stand- 
ing beneath the portals of the ecclesiastical year and of Christmas. 
Therefore the Sunday announces a double coming of Christ: one 
in humility for our redemption, and one in glory for our judgment. 
If you will, there is also a three-fold advent of Christ : one soon to 
follow in Bethlehem, the present one in our hearts, and a future 
one — on the day of judgment. Besides, this day of judgment is 
a double one, and the final coming of Christ is likewise a double 
one. There is a last day of our lives, which brings with it the 
particular judgment: in the biblical language it is called the advent: 
the coming of the Lord. There is a last day of the world, whereon 
the general judgment will be inaugurated. And this day is the 
coming of the Lord in the fullest and the highest sense. Excita 
quaesumus Domine potentiam tuam et veni (as Redeemer upon the 
world: Oration). Induimini Dominum Jesum Christum: pro prior 
est nostra salus (as Redeemer into our hearts: Epistle). His autem 
fieri incipientibus — levate capita vestra (as judge and Redeemer at 
the end of the word). 

II. The fundamental sentiment of the liturgy — fear of the judge: 
therefore: flight to the Redeemer: Ad Te animam levavi. (Introi- 
tus.) Arescentibus hominibus prae timore. (Evang.) Eora est de 
somno surgere: abjiciamus opera tenebrarum. (Epistle.) Ostende 
nobis Domine misericordiam tuam et salutare tuum da nobis. 
(Gradual.) Fly to the Redeemer, in order that the judge may be 
merciful to you. 

III. The entire view of the liturgy. 

(A) The entire view of the first Sunday of the ecclesiastical 
year: Christ the coming judge. 

The ancient Christians loved to represent the last judgment 
on the western walls of cathedrals and churches, in order that its 
silent and never ceasing sermon might accompany the faithful 



178 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



into the sanctuary, and also out of it; thus, likewise, do we meet 
the idea of the last judgment at the beginning and at the end of 
the ecclesiastical year. To the end, attended with fear, follows 
directly a beginning with fear. 1 The trumpet of the last judgment 
has closed the ecclesiastical year. 2 Yes, repeatedly we have heard 
the sound of the trumpet since the day of All Saints and of All 
Souls. The tuba mirum spar gens sonum opens also the new ecclesi- 
astical year, and its tremendous sounds vibrate through the whole 
liturgy of the first Sunday of Advent. 3 Under the portals of the 
ecclesiastical year a chorus of trumpets announces: There is an 
Eternity. From this fundamental thought springs a double ad- 
monition : 

(a) Raise up your heads in holy fear. (Gospel.) The rapping 
of the judge arouses the holy fear of God. Timor Domini initium 
sapientiae. (Eccles. i: 16; Ps. no: 10.) Finem loquendi pariter 
audiamus: Deum time: et mandata ejus observa. (Eccles. 12: 13, 14.) 
(Compare above, p. 127, n. 14 d.) There is: 

(a) A fear of thought, which frightens us (beginning of the 
Gospel). 

({$) A fear of action, which converts us (Epistle). 

(b) Raise your heads in holy prayer. Prayer at the beginning 
of the ecclesiastical year (see the exegesis of the Introit, pp. 58 sqq.). 

(B) An entire view of the first Sunday of Advent: Christ the com- 
ing Redeemer and the Judge. This thought permeates the entire 
liturgy. Especially beautiful does it appear in the mass, (a) A 
look upwards to the Redeemer (Introit of the mass) ; (fi) A look into 
the heart (Epistle of the mass); (y) A look into the future at the 
judge (Gospel of the mass). If you fail to look up to the Redeemer 
and look not into your own hearts, you will be forced, at some 
time, to look up to the terrible judge. (Compare herewith the 
respective texts of the missal and our explanation of this part of 
the liturgy, see above, pp. 58, 59, and 60.) 

IV. Themes. 1. The theme often follows directly from the funda- 
mental thought, from the fundamental sentiment, and the entire view 
of the liturgy. Compare herewith the chapter: The practical sermon, 
art. I, point II; The liturgy and the selection of subjects (above, pp. 

1 Dr. Keppler, Adventperikopen, p. 16. During the middle ages even the Gospel 
of the palm-procession was read. 

2 Dr. Keppler, Adventperikopen, p. 15. 

3 Dr. Keppler, Adventperikopen, 1. c. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 179 



58-61). A wise limitation in the selection of the course of thoughts is 
advisable. 

2. The theme likewise follows from the concomitant thoughts, 
which may be gained in striking abundance, through a lovely homiletic 
exegesis. (See pp. 54, 57, 61; also pp. 153 sqq., especially pp. 154 sqq.: 
Study of pericopes: Personal homiletic exegesis, etc.) 

For this Sunday we will give a richer collection of examples in a 
special paragraph. 

§ 6. {Continued.) Themes of Sermons taken from the Liturgy of 
the First Sunday of Advent 

We will give herewith an example of a rich and many-sided homiletic 
stimulation, which a single formulary of a mass and of an office can 
give for many years : always new material and new thoughts — and the 
old given necessarily always under a new form. This paragraph will be 
an incentive to similar work for other Sundays and feast-days. 

I. Theme. Character of Advent: Longing — recollection — penance. 
(See above p. 183, 5, 2. . . .) 

II. Theme. A look upward to God, at the beginning of the ecclesiasti- 
cal year (from the Introit). See sketch, p. 58. 

III. Theme. Prayer at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. (Exe- 
gesis of the Introit). (a) Prayer, (b) Prayer for right direction. 
(See p. 58.) 

IV. Theme. The first word of the Church at the beginning of its year 
(thematic homily of the Introit). On the first page "of the missal the 
priest will find these words: Ad Te levavi animam meam, etc. The 
first song of the new ecclesiastical year brings the same words to our 
ears and to our soul. Every word of God surpasses all gold and jewels. 
Therefore, let us consider word for word, thought for thought, etc. (Com- 
pare the matter pp. 58 sqq. and p. 66 I., but now as a close and a practical 
exegesis, combined with the verses.) 

V. Theme. (Apologetically considered, in conjunction with the 
Introit.) 

A word on the spirit and the form of prayer. 

I. A word on the spirit of prayer. We are led into the spirit of 
prayer, (^4) by the question: What is prayer? The Introit tells us: 
Ad Te levavi animam meam: "The raising of the soul to God," not simply 
a motion of the lips. A single slowly and thoughtfully recited " Our 
Father " is of a lasting effect — even though you recite your " Our Father " 
rather rapidly. An elevation of the soul at consecration and during the 
moments after communion is of an inestimable value. But we are 
taught what prayer and what the spirit of prayer really are: 

(a) By an attentive look around us: every grain of seed, every 



i8o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



being, entire nature cries out: God lives. Modern science, modern 
investigation recognizes the laws, the traces of God in nature more 
clearly and more deeply than was formerly done. All things exclaim: 
There is a God. But thou, Oh man! reasonable creature of the world 
and of the universe — raise thy soul to God ! pray in the name of the 
entire creation, pray in the name of the universe! (See above pp. 74-76.) 
Prayer, the spirit of prayer is taught us: 

(b) By a look into ourselves. ( a ) Our own ability of direction 
urges us to pray. The grandest act of man, no doubt, is to think and 
to will. But the greatest and the most exalted that he can think and 
desire is God. Therefore, elevate your soul to God: Pray! — A modern 
infidel writer asserted that man ought to be ashamed to be caught at 
prayer. The contrary is true. To pray is the highest honor for man, 
the greatest capability of man. (fi) Our own misery urges us to pray. 
If a husband sees his faithful wife hovering for weeks between life and 
death — if a noble, promising, talented youth is consumed by sickness 
in the very springtime of life — oh how this urges one to pray ! The 
well-known proverb has a deep and true meaning: Necessity is the 
mother of prayer. And this holy time of Advent, which reminds us 
of our sins, of our passions, of our miseries — and of all that which man 
would be without Jesus — urges us to pray to the coming Redeemer : 
Ad Te levavi animam meam: inTe confido . . . neque irrideant me inimici 
mei . . . etenim universi, qui te expectant, non confundentur. (7) After 
looking around us and into ourselves let us cast another look quickly 
above ourselves, up to God, to Jesus, whom we expect in this time of 
Advent. Hereby we will again learn the indispensably necessary spirit 
of prayer. He at whose word the surging waves were suddenly stilled, 
He Who called Lazarus forth from the grave and Who Himself passed 
through the stone of the tomb — spent whole nights in prayer {pernoc- 
tabat in oratione Dei) . He calls and urges us saying : Petite — pulsate — 
oportet semper orare et nunquam deficere. Therefore, one of our first 
duties is: Orate fratres! (Application.) All this is an answer to the 
question: What is prayer? To raise the soul to God, urged on by the 
world around us, and in us and by Him Who is above us. But we shall 
learn to know the spirit of prayer still better if we ask ourselves the 
question: (B) Wherefore should we pray? We may pray, in the name 
of Jesus, for all necessities. But one is the spirit and the substance of 
prayer: vias tuas demonstra mihi, semitas tuas edoce me (Introit). 
Prayer for the soul's salvation, for the proper way, for amelioration of 
character, against our predominant fault, for progress in virtue — 
prayer for strength to be faithful to our state of life, for the fulfilment of 
parental duties — for our own souls and the souls of those in our charge 
(specialize), f. i., prayer and a renewal of the purpose of amendment 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



181 



made in the last confession, or during the offertory of mass. (See above, 
pp. 60, 61.) The first and most of the petitions of the "Our Father" 
teach us the spirit of prayer : Vias tuas demonstra mihi — semitas tuas 
edoce me — such is the spirit of prayer. And yet there are many who say : 
All this is very nice and good ! But the use of so many forms and cere- 
monies in the Catholic life of prayer is objectionable to us! Therefore — 

II. A word on the forms of prayer, (a) There are forms because 
we are visible human beings. Man is a spiritual-sensible being and 
not a pure spirit. Man is a social being. He does not live solely to 
himself. Therefore, all spiritual things necessarily have some form, a 
certain order, a definite discipline. Whoever does not do spiritual 
things regularly, at least at times, will soon not do them at all. Where 
can you find more forms than in the military life? How many apparently 
small details? Yet these details are necessary for good discipline. But 
all this is subject to the great spiritual thought, to love of country, to 
the service of the fatherland. Behold, how the spiritual, the noblest 
is clothed in forms. Not quite so, yet very much so in many similar 
points, is the case in regard to religion, the service of God. Full liberty 
exists in one's own private chamber, for private prayer which is pro- 
ductive of much good, and is even a matter of an exalted and earnest 
duty. But there are certain forms of prayer because we are human, 
and without these forms everything would end in indifference, (b) There 
are forms because there is a visible Church. A visible Christ — therefore 
a visible Church — a visible service — visible sacraments — through 
which immeasurable invisible graces flow into our souls for our invisible 
intensification. 

III. Are they really mere forms? Empty forms? Today is the begin- 
ning of the ecclesiastical year. All these forms of prayer and of worship 
are bearers of great ideas — bearers of supernatural graces. Is it mere 
form if, in the divine service of this time of Advent, the silent Infant of 
Christmas stands before the gates of our souls: Ecce sto ad ostium et 
pulso? Are not the Gospels, the orations, and the chants such a knock- 
ing? There exist today, for the educated and for the ordinary people, 
prayer-books and literature which explain the glorious liturgy. (The 
preacher should here mention some.) Is it mere form when we give 
honor at the Gloria to the divine infant on Christmas day? When 
heart and spirit, word and chant, organ and music, all — all chant 
harmoniously with the angels at Christmas? When thousands gather 
around the Saviour, present through consecration? The preacher 
should emphasize several such liturgical actions by some quick and 
strong momentary illustrations, f. i., the: Ecce lignum crucis, the first 
communion celebration, — the libera at the catafalque — the requiem dur- 
ing which the priest is engaged, through Christ, with the Father of mercy 



182 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



about the souls of the departed — during which divine consolation is 
poured into the heart of the husband who has lost his beloved spouse, 
etc. Is the entire ecclesiastical year — during which Jesus passes and 
dispenses His benefits every Sunday and renews, upon our altars, His 
life and His love and brings them within us in order that the image of 
Jesus may assume form in our soul, that we may live the life of Jesus — 
is all this — all — mere form? No — it is spirit and life. It is form 
and formality only for those who attend no sermons: for them the 
spiritual meaning of ceremonies, aye, supernatural grace itself, will soon 
be a mere echo from a foreign world. Soon they will neglect mass — cast 
it aside — as an empty ceremony — because they know not its mean- 
ing. They will stand before the world faithless and graceless — steeped 
in sin — and whatever they do that is noble — is only natural, without 
a second, without divine life: Grandes passus extra mam. Therefore, at 
the beginning of the ecclesiastical year we will say with the Church and 
in the Church and also in our quiet private chamber: Ad Te levavi 
animam meam, etc. Instructed in the spirit and in the form of prayer 
— Brethren — let us pray! Forget not the Catholic doctrine of the 
spirit and the form of prayer which the present first Sunday of the 
ecclesiastical year announces. The Catholic people and Catholic men, 
however, will today and ever unite in the exalted prayer of the Church : 
Ad Te levavi animam meam. 

VI. Theme. Prayer for the one thing necessary, at the beginning of 
the ecclesiastical year. (Vias tuas demonstra mihi, semitas tuas, and the 
the first petitions of the "Our Father.") 

VII. Theme. Resolution of fidelity to one's vocation, made at the 
beginning of the ecclesiastical year. Vias tuas demonstra mihi, semitas 
tuas edoce me. Select a two-fold way to comply with the duties of your 
state of life, (a) For your vocation as a Christian. Every Friday — the 
day of our confession and every day (consecration of the day by a good 
intention in the morning — perfect contrition every evening) show us 
the way to be loyal to our vocation. These are the forces that hold the 
Catholic life of a vocation together during the course of the ecclesiastical 
year. 

(b) Loyalty to your vocation in the world. This way is shown us: 
(a) by the duties of our state of life in general (Vias — semitas demonstra 
mihi — specialize) . (/?) by the duty to amend one's character in great 
and little things (Vias — semitas. See the Epistle — and above pp. 57-59). 

VIII. Theme. A homily on the Epistle. . (Read also the Gospel.) 
Our morning sacrifice at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. (See 
a sketch, p. 57.) 

IX. Theme. How some one became a Saint through the words of the 
Epistle of this day. (Compare the Epistle and the history of the con- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 183 



version of St. Augustin, given in his Confessions — consult the classical 
sermon of Bishop Sailer: What led St. Augustin away from God? — 
What led him back to God?) The sermon is entirely constructed upon 
material taken from the Confessions. It would give sufficient sugges- 
tions for a cycle of evening sermons, during Advent, on the Epistle and 
the life of St. Augustin. The sermon is, moreover, a model for a bio- 
graphical treatment of ecclesiastical history. It contains very much 
useful matter for teachers of religion. 

X. Theme. Taken from the Epistle: Fratres hora est: 

1. Hora est!— Now is the right hour. Make use of the present 
time. A treatment according to the principle attributed to St. Bernard 
is here advisable : Tempus tantum valet, quantum sanguis Christi, quantum 
totum coelum. Compare the appropriate and rich literature of ascetics, 
and treat the same at the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. Describe 
the contrary principle as a squandering of time by neglecting one's 
vocation, family, etc. Omnia vestra sunt: tempus praesens — futurum: 
time is placed at your disposal: Negotiamini dum venio. Look at the 
judge in the Gospel. Every second of time is a gift of the eternal judge. 
Fratres, hora est jam de somno surgere! (Compare our explanation of time, 
pp. 169 sqq.) 

2. Hora est. Now is the hour. Make use of the time of Advent. 
It is a time of grace: Induamur arma lucis. Induamini Dominum 
Jesum Christum (Epistle). Make use of: 

(a) The Sunday sermon: it always furnishes weapons — a way of 
light — a principle of Christ — by which we arm ourselves for the week, 
and purchase time. It furnishes for us some characteristics of the ex- 
amples and of the life of Christ — which we may adopt and implant 
into our souls. (Fruit of the regular hearing of sermons — fruit of the 
real, good, humble, and intelligent hearing of sermons during this sacred 
time. See pp. 18 and 19 sqq.) Now is the time to use these arms of light. 
The arms of light of this holy time are: 

(b) The sacraments of Advent and of Christmas. Practical stimu- 
lants for the fulfilling of sacramental ideas in the light of Christmas are 
produced by the prayers of the Postcommunio of all the masses of 
Advent. A good confession, for Advent and Christmas, and its con- 
sequences : in the struggle against sin, in a daily perfect act of contrition 
made in the evening, etc., may be splendidly presented as a fulfilment of 
the warning: Hora est . . . : Induamini Dominum Jesum Christum. 
But Holy Communion, especially, fulfils this admonition of Advent 
given by the Apostle. In such sermons one should not attempt to 
describe all the effects of communion. A single one should be selected 
and all centered therein. Communion (real and spiritual) is a putting 
on of the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself comes, He gives us His bright 



1 84 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



garment — the garment of divine grace. He gives us His bright thoughts 
— ■ of the proper view of life and of the world. He gives us the arms of 
light, i.e., the innumerable aids, that we may never again lose the life of 
Christ, the garment of Christ, the grace of this holy time. The preacher 
should show, with all possible clearness, what one single Holy Communion 
is, what one communion during Advent and Christmas may effect. He 
should unfold the entire glorious wealth which we gain through it and 
all that may follow therefrom. Christ has entered the soul: There- 
fore our world of thoughts should acknowledge Him. (Faith — a 
struggle against ordinary thoughts — against envious, uncharitable, 
and heartless actions, etc. Select not all this, but only one point that 
may be practical for the parish.) Christ enters on your tongue: There- 
fore, this sanctified member should never again utter words which Christ 
abhors. He is King of our hearts: Induistis Jesum Christum. What 
is the character of your inmost intentions and the motives of your 
actions? — Do we not wish to become noble men, noble Christians, real 
Christians instead of egoists? We have not merely received the Chris- 
tian name but Christ Himself. Truly: Hora est jam de somno surgere: 
now, in this confession and communion of Advent. We desire to indicate 
merely by these thoughts, which are only partially considered and 
developed, how easy it is to inaugurate a genuine renovation of life in the 
parish, according to the spirit of this holy time. With this the preacher 
ought to weave in, time and again, some useful thoughts for those who 
receive Holy Communion but seldom, and then again some advice for 
those who are more zealous frequenters of the sacraments. On this 
background he must induce the hearers to lead a noble, upright life, 
without simulation and falsehood. He should attempt to intensify the 
religious in men and make suggestions which men are able to carry out in 
their daily lives, without in the least overburdening the people with 
outward exercises. Such ascetic sermons, in connection with the liturgy, 
are too rarely delivered. And yet they would be far better received 
than those high-sounding and stereotyped treatises on themes of some 
virtue given in some scholastic form. It cannot be too deeply empha- 
sized of what an incalculable value the combination of a liturgical sol- 
emnity is with the inner Christian life — and to make the pulsation of 
the Church sensible to the souls of all, on these boundary marks of time 
and during these great solemnities of the Church. Many preachers 
think themselves above such expositions, or, through a too frequent use of 
alleged sermon-books for the purpose, are too academic and too stubborn 
to work directly for the intensification and the supernatural ennobling 
of man. The tone of such exercises should be neither that of a high- 
stilted pathos, nor of a howling polemic criticism — but of a noble, relig- 
ious, conversational tone coming from a clear mind and a warm heart. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 185 



XL Themes on the Gospel. Compare the excellent work of Dr. 
Keppler, Bishop of Rottenburg, Die Adventperikopen, Biblische Studien, 
Herder, 1899, which we recommend most highly to the pastors of souls. 
Compare also the last Sunday after Pentecost. See Braun, Kosmo- 
gonie, compare "Hochland," 1903, III.: Dr. Pohle, Christl. Welt- 
untergangslehre und Astronomic, p. 303 sqq. 

XII. Themes taken from the entire liturgy of the mass. (Compare 
pp. 177-179.) 

Theme (A). A look upwards to God. (Introit). A look into ourselves. 
(Epistle.) A look into the future (Gospel). (Compare pp. 58, 59, 60, 
178, 179.) 

Theme (B). Fear of the judge. — Prayer to the Redeemer. 

1. Fear of the judge. The essential ideas of the Gospel indicate: 
(a) that the judge is coming (a short, not very extensive description of 
the judgment as a fact), then: Levate capita vestra, appropinquat 
redemptio vestra. The Gospel indicates (b) that He will surely come: 
Appropinquat redemptio vestra; verba mea non transibunt. He will 
surely come, without fail. Our whole life will then be judged. But His 
forerunner, the particular judgment, will approach much earlier. (Short 
dogmatic ideas in the light of the Gospel.) (c) The Gospel indi- 
cates, furthermore, that the judge will come with definite signs: Videte 
ficulneam et omnes arbores, etc. . . . ita et vos cum videritis haec fieri, 
scitote quoniam prope est regnum Dei. At some time humanity will 
see these signs — and the judgment will most assuredly follow. But 
before that the forerunner of the judgment of the world will come — 
the particular judgment, immediately after death: Know that the king- 
dom of God is at hand. The rapid speed of time, human frailty and 
dependence, sickness, aye, every by-gone day, every passing moment 
says: Levate capita vestra: Thy death is near! Holy fear. (Compare 
also the connection of the pericope in the Gospel of Luke and of Mat- 
thew.) Time Deum! Confige timore tuo cames measl Vigilate! Sponsus 
venit. From these thoughts of fear, upon this fruitful soil of the fear 
of God (Timor Domini initium sapientiae, Ps. no: 10, Eccli. 1 : 16. Time 
Deum, observa mandata: hoc est totus homo. Eccli. 12, 13, 14) the 
noblest Advent blossoms bud forth. (See Ps. 113, and Ps. 128 d.) 

2. Prayer to the Redeemer. The judge, in the Gospel, is the expected 
Redeemer of Advent and the one who appeared at Christmas. Apparuit 
gratia Salvatoris nostri Dei ut . . . vivamus expectantes beatam spem et 
adventum gloriae magni Dei et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi (Epistle of 
the first mass of Christmas). He is still the Redeemer. The grace of 
the Redeemer is still at our disposal in this time of Advent: nox prae- 
cessit: dies appropinquavit (Advent Epistle of the day). Therefore, 
holy fear urges us during Advent, and especially today in the high mass 



1 86 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of Advent, to pray to the Redeemer: Grant that Thy word be fulfilled. 
Thou callest our judgment our redemption: appro pinquarrit redemptio 
vestral Make our day of death and of judgment a day of redemption! 
Therefore, what shall we ask of our Redeemer? 

(a) Draw us away from sin : ut a periculis peccati te mereamur prote- 
gente eripi, te liberante salvari. Redeem us from sin itself! Libera nos a 
malo ! Save us from the dangers of sin : et ne nos inducas in tentationem, 
i.e., draw us away from all danger and grant that we enter not into the 
danger of temptation, ne intretis in tentationem. Draw us away from 
the danger of the sins already committed. Against these perfect con- 
trition is the most effective means. (Compare the oration of the first 
Sunday of Advent which contains all these thoughts). If time per- 
mitted, the preacher might arrange some other exegetic prayer addressed 
to the Redeemer, or a new treatment of the theme : 

(b) Show us the way. Ad Te levavi animam meant, vias demonstra 
mihi, semitas tuas edoce me. Some essential ideas framed in the text. 
All this points to the coming Christmas. (See p. 60.) 

Thus fear of the judge compels us to pray to the Redeemer. As a 
conclusion a short explanation of the Postcommunio might be appro- 
priately introduced. (Compare also the great antiphons from Dec. 17 
to the vigil of Christmas.) 

Theme (C). A review of the ecclesiastical year. Ad Te levavi animam 
meam. To Thee we have raised our souls during the past ecclesiastical 
year: 

(a) to the crucified Jesus, 

(b) to the risen Jesus, 

(c) to the living Jesus. 

Consider in each case — the deeds of Christ, their fruits and the 
procuring of the same for us, in concrete practical applications. (This 
arrangement omits a review of Christmas — because the thoughts of 
Christmas are developed during Advent and on the feast itself. (Com- 
pare herewith the themes for the last Sunday of the ecclesiastical year, 
p. 631 sqq. See above II Chap.; Liturgy, Art II. and III., 1 and 2, p. 109 
sqq., also p. 55 sqq. ) 

Sentiments: (a) of contrition (remembrance of the improperia: on 
Good Friday and at the consecration of every mass) ; (b) of gratitude, 
(see Rom. 1:21 and above: Pragmatics of Holy Scripture (6) n. 4, p. 105, 
remembrance of the preface of Easter and of every mass.) (c) of the 
power of action (remembrance of the thoughts of Pentecost — the char- 
acteristics of the Apostles after having received power from on high) . 

The same theme could be also constructed from the verse of the 
Introit, and from Rom., c. 6. (See above p. 162 sqq): We have raised 
our souls to God — 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 187 



(a) We were crucified and buried with Christ (Holy Week). 

(b) We are risen with Christ (Easter: Dogmatic-moral treatment). 

(c) We walk with Christ in the newness of life (through the Holy 
Ghost. Fruits of Pentecost, which are renewed every day and especially 
on Sundays and days of confession). 

Theme (D) . A look into the past and into the future. 

" Ad Te levavi animam meant Deus tneus." 

1. A look into the past through contrition. Looking into the past of 
the ecclesiastical year begets sorrow for sin — Deus meus. (Introit). 
Who is God? Deus charitas est. What has He given to you during the 
past year? Life — the second life (grace) — the means of life (the 
sacraments) — blessings and aids without number (real auxiliary graces) 
— in addition to this the help of providence: misericordia Domini, 
quia non sumus consumpti. From this the preacher can draw motives 
of love, which lead to perfect love and contrition. Looking into the 
past excites gratitude: raise yourselves to gratitude in the words of 
the preface. The most beautiful gratitude is gratitude of deeds: a 
firm Christian resolution. (See one or other principal thought of the 
Epistle. Compare p. 59. and p. 105: 4.) 

2. A look into the future with hope — in Te confido, non erubescam. 
(Introit.) 

(a) Hope is founded in God, not in man, not in our own merit. 
In Te confido. Habemus spem tanquam anchor am incedentem usque ad 
interior a velaminis (Hebr. 6: 19). The anchor of hope is fastened to 
the throne of God — even after sin, if the sinner will be converted — ■ 
in the greatest vicissitudes: non erubescam. In the midst of all enemies, 
in all kinds of temptations you can conquer. God can and will help. 
(Motivum spei.) 

(b) Hope looks to God (to Jesus) to our end. Whosoever hopes 
lives on the way and the path to the end — to happiness. Advent, 
Christmas, New Year — all point to the way of eternal happiness. 
Hope looks entirely to Jesus. God has given His only Son for souls. 
Therefore, you have a perfect foundation for hope. Universi qui Te 
expectant non confundentur. And now is Advent — the time of expec- 
tation: Apparuit humanitas, benignitas et gratia Sahatoris nostri Dei: 
therefore, courage — omnia possum in eo qui me confortat. (Jesus 
bonum summum mihi.) (See also below, p. 189 sqq.) 

(c) Hope likewise looks to itself. Man must co-operate. Who- 
soever seeks the grace of God and is sincere, may hope. He may also 
say on his death-bed: In Te confido. 

Conclusion: Non confundar in aeternum. May the virtue of hope 
protect you against sin. 



188 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Theme E. Christ rapping in Advent 

11 Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso." 

(a) At the universe (in the Gospel) that it may be raised from its 
base: ecce sto ad ostium et pulso. Thematic substantial points of the 
signs of judgment and their significance. 

(b) At the hearts (the Epistle). Soft or hard raps by the Infant 
Saviour: Thematic substantial points taken from the Epistle. (Com- 
pare p. 60 sqq, p. 175 sqq., p. 179.) 

Theme F. A visit of Christ on the First Sunday of Advent. 

1. A visit of Christ to our homes, (a) On Sunday morning — 
Divine worship. Is the father of the family at mass? Hora est de somno 
surgere, literally and spiritually. Thus the Saviour goes every Sunday, 
in an invisible manner, through our homes and families. Today He 
holds a review. Did He find, in His wanderings and visits, men who 
said: Ad Te levavi animam meant? On Sunday? At morning and 
evening prayer on week-days? Did He find men and Christians 
at their work and in their lives, did He find us all of the sentiment: 
Deus meus in Te confido, etc.? How did He find the mother amongst 
her children? Can she say of her family devotions: ad Te levavi 
animam meam? Can she say of her education of the children what is 
said of the Infant Jesus in the Communio of the mass of today : Dominus 
dabit benignitatem et terra nostra dabit fructum suum? I have placed 
all under the blessing of God. And the earth: I have done my part. 
The children are the fruit of the earth and the gifts of divine goodness. 
(See Genesis 4: 1; possedi hominem per Deum). Was the family truly 
Christian, or did it give scandal to those without: neque irrideant me 
inimici mei. Also for this we must pray and be solicitous. 

Endeavor to continue this examination of conscience during the 
high mass, before and after consecration. Go through your home and 
domain, through your life and occupation, your education and 
vocation. 

2. A visit by Jesus into our souls. This should lead to a similar 
practical examination of conscience. The Saviour passes through our 
souls, through all their nooks and corners. Apply the Epistle of this 
day as a mirror for confessions. The most varied questions of life and 
character might be introduced, and all as questions on the coming of 
Christ. Into such examinations of conscience, within a setting of Holy 
Scripture, the keenest and the most disagreeable that a pastor of souls 
may have to say, might be properly interwoven. It will be much better 
received in such a manner and often surprisingly well. (See above, 
p. 59.) Notice should be taken of parents, individuals, coarse sinners, 
and of those aiming at perfection. An earnest and concrete but tact- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 189 



ful explanation of the spirit and the words of the Epistle might be a 
source of great blessings. 

Such is the coming of the Lord. Advent: Ecce sto ad ostium et 
pulso. (Apoc. 3: 20.) 

Open unto Him ! Hear ye Him ! Follow Him ! — Thus you prepare 
the way for Him at Christmas. 

§ 7. The Second Sunday of Advent 

I. Fundamental thoughts of the liturgy — Christ our salvation. 
Christ is our Saviour. Tu es qui venturus es, an alium expectamus ? 
Euntes renuntiate . . . quae audistis et vidistis: Caeci vident, claudi 
ambulant, leprosi mundantur, surdi audiunt, mortui resurgent, pau- 
peres evangelizantur: et beatus, qui non fuerit scandalizatus in me. 
(Gospel.) The great image of the Saviour, in all needs, controls the 
entire liturgy — silently in the nocturns and the Epistle, mightily 
and powerfully in the Gospel. (See above, p. 68 sqq., p. 65, p. 
688) (12.) 

II. Fundamental sentiment of the liturgy: Hope of salvation. 
Hope on the Saviour, in the Saviour, and through the Saviour. 
The entire Sunday is placed in the sign of Hope. In the Introit, 
the gradual, the offertory, the communio, hope speaks and prays 
through all. Hope is the first and the last word of the Epistle. 
Hope is the joyful message of the Gospel. The liturgy unfolds 
the essence of hope, its motive and its qualities in the light of 
Christ. Erit radix Jesse: in eum gentes sperabunt. (I. Nocturn.) 
Tu es qui venturus es an alium expectamus? (Gospel.) Populus 
Sion, ecce Dominus veniet ad salvandas gentes. (Introit.) Deus 
autem spei repleat omni gaudio. (Epistle.) (Compare p. 648, 
gamma.) 

III. A full view of the liturgy: Christ is the Saviour. The First 
Sunday of Advent preaches: The menace of judgment! Beware! 
Flee to the Redeemer, that some day He maybe merciful to you! 
The sermon of the Second Sunday declares: Go, filled with hope, 
meet your Redeemer ! He comes for all, and you will find in 
Him all that is necessary for all conditions and for all necessities. 1 

The entire liturgy proclaims in a grand manner — Christ the 
Saviour. We will give a sketch of the fundamental thought of 
the liturgy as follows: 

1 Compare Dr. Keppler, Adventperikopen, p. 40, and Amberger, Pastoral II B. 
III. Buch p. 698. See above, pp. 65 and 688. 



190 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Christ is the Saviour. He is: 

(a) The promised Saviour. This is described in the first noc- 
turn, Isaias n. Virga de radice Jesse. Flos de radice ejus ascendit. 
Isaias, in the tenth chapter, describes the terrible distress of Israel 

— an image of all distresses and calamities of the people of God 
and also an image of the distress caused by sin in the world. Here 
the Lord of the hosts shall break the terrible might of the enemy, 
like an earthen vessel cast against a rock. Why? Because from 
the oppressed people, whose tree of life is cut down — there shall 
come forth a rod of the root of Jesse — the Messiah, c. n. (See the 
exegesis of this thought above, p. 82 and 83. The power of antithe- 
ses.) He is the promised Redeemer in distress. He saved before 
He had come. How much the more now — after He is come. 

The Epistle, full of jubilation, recalls the just mentioned proph- 
ecy of the Redeemer in distress. Full of wisdom is the explanation 
given us of this prophecy by St. Jerome, in the second nocturn. 
Thus, in the first nocturn, the flower blossoms forth from the root 

— Jesus. Mary, with the lovely Child, meets us as a helper in all 
our needs: nos autem virgam de radice Jesse Mariani Virginem 
intelligamus . . . et florem Dominum Salvatorem, qui dicit in Canticis 
Canticorum: ego flos canipi et lilium concallium. (Hieron. 1, c.) 
Like a morning star of hope, which proclaims the rising of the sun, 
Mary appears, who soon will bring us the Saviour, in the beginning 
of the divine (nocturnal) service of this day. (Compare the ap- 
proaching feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed 
Virgin.) But Christ is: 

(b) The Saviour Who has appeared. This is announced by the 
Gospel. (See above, p. 189: Fundamental thought.) 

(a) He is the Saviour Who is come for the needs of His day. 
An embassy of St. John, who himself does not doubt, but in the 
name of his disciples and his people and in the name of the entire 
Old Testament propounds the question : Art Thou He, Who is to 
come? finds Jesus in the midst of His work of Redemption. The 
Saviour answers rather with deeds than in words (facta loquuntur) : 
The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, 
the dead rise, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. 
(Matt. 11: 4, 5, of the Gospel.) You can see with your own eyes 
and feel with your own hands that I am the Saviour who has ap- 
peared, who was promised in need. (Isaias 29:i8sqq.; 61,1. 
See Ezech. 3:7.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 191 



(ft) He is the Saviour, Who appears in every need, for all con- 
ditions of needs. There are those who are spiritually blind, spirit- 
ually lame. (See a sketch of this above, p. 68 sqq. The intentions 
of the Second Sunday of Advent, and especially p. 688.) 

(y) He is the Saviour for your time, in all of your needs. This 
is announced in the second part of the Epistles. When is Christ 
your Saviour? When you go forth to meet Him in your needs 
(p. 68, 2 (b) and B). 

When do we meet the Saviour in our needs? 

(a) When we are men of principle: not the playthings of our 
whims: non arundo vento agitata. (See Gospel.) The Epistle 
admonishes us to hear the sermon, to read the Holy Scriptures 
[for the sermon, see the Introduction of these studies, p. 1-14; for 
the reading of the Scriptures according to the rules of the Church, 
the reading of the New Testament especially, the reading of the 
Life of Christ, of the books on the Gospels and the Epistles, of 
good books in general, all of which constitute a school of prin- 
ciples — as a way to find consolation and hope in Christ: ut per 
patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum spem habeamus (Epistle)]. 

When do we meet Jesus? 

(J3) When we are men not devoid of a will, not slaves of our 
passions: non homo mollibus vestitus. (See p. 104, 3 — the program 
for humanity's redemption. See especially the Gospel.) 

(y) When we are not merely natural men. Joannes est pro- 
pheta plus quam propheta — angelus ante faciem Christi — praepa- 
rans viam ante eum. This was the unique, the entirely supernatural 
vocation of St. John. The Christian, too, has a supernatural voca- 
tion, which may likewise be expressed in these very same words. By 
grace we are supernatural beings, like unto the angels; we prepare 
for ourselves and others the way to Christ. (Details, see above, 
pp. 68 and 69.) 

All this is contained in Hope. 

IV. Themes. The above explanations constitute a theme in them- 
selves and occasion an entire series of themes for sermons on Christ 
for this Sunday. (See also p. 668 sqq.) 

Theme A. Christ the promised Redeemer. (Entire view above, n. 1, 
add to this some of the prolific prophecies of the Old Testament with 
an exegesis of their fulfilment.) Such sermons are very useful, provided 
the exegesis is made popular and richly colored. Habeamus firmiorem 
propheticum sermonem, cut benefacitis attendentes quasi lucernae lucenti 



192 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



in caliginoso loco, donee dies elucescat et lucifer oriatur in cordibus vestris 
(II Pet. i: 19). The Prince of the Apostles here reminds us that the 
explanation of the prophecies concerning Christ and the proof of their 
fulfilment is a very practical theme for sermons and discourses. Material 
is furnished by the exegetes and also by the dogmatic books of Hettinger, 
Scheeben, Hurter, Willmer, Deharbe, etc. Cycles of sermons on the 
most beautiful and important prophecies might also be delivered. 1 

Theme B. Christ the Saviour, Who has come (or Christ the Saviour 
Who is to come, or: In how far is Christ the Saviour?). The develop- 
ment of these themes might also be arranged according to point b of 
the entire view. 

Theme C. Christ and our needs. (See above point (b) p. 190, also 
p. 67, p. 137 sqq., n. 21: The expected one of Israel and of the nations. 
Compare also below: Sermons on Christ Jesus.) 

Theme D. How is Christ our Saviour? Development of these 
thoughts on p. 68 and 69, according to this new view-point. 

Theme E. Two questions: The question of St. John the Baptist 
concerning Christ (Tu es?). The question of Christ concerning John 
(Qui d existis in desertum videre ?) (Thematic homily.) 

Theme F. The greatness of the Messiah and the greatness of His 
precursor. The same theme, but more symbolic-typically considered. 

Theme G. The greatness of Christ as Saviour of the corporeally and 
especially of the spiritually poor, blind (infidelity), supernaturally lame 
(indifference in the daily life of the world) leprous (sin), the dead (mortal 
sin) world, and our own greatness when we grasp the proffered hand of 
Christ and do not remain mere reeds, devoid of principles and effeminate 
men (see above the entire view of the Liturgy). 

Theme H. The second Sunday of Advent — the feast of hope (sermon 
on hope). 

Study the treatise on hope, f.i., in St. Thomas, Muller, Gopfert 
Lehmkuhl, etc. Then make a sketch of a sermon, but fill it out as 
much as possible, only with the thoughts of the liturgy of the Second 
Sunday of Advent (see p. 189, I). 

The Second Sunday of Advent is the feast of hope. Three questions 
on this great virtue: 

What is hope ? (Moral definition, see Introit of the I and II Sunday 
of Advent, also the Gospel.) 

Why do we hope? Motive of hope: Who moves us to hope? Give 
the solid theological doctrine. Ascetic matter is furnished by the first 
chapters of Brucker — Lehen: The way to interior peace. Compare 
the question of the Gospel: Tu es qui venturus es an alium expectamus? 
Theology teaches: Deus (Christus) qui et potest et vult salvare et r ever a 

1 Keppler, Adventperikopen, p. 48. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 193 

salvabit est immediatum motivum spei. See the Gospel: Caeci vident, 
claudi ambulant, etc., Christus: potest — vult ajferre auxilium. (See 
p. 193, D 2.) 

How do we hope ? Treat only of the one or the other quality of hope, 
f.i., hope is firm and secure on the part of God: Habemus anchor am tutam 
acfirmam (Heb. 6: 19) on our part, hope is the more secure the more we 
follow the second part of the Gospel: non arundo! etc. 

N.B 1. Another series of central thoughts and intentions we have 
given above, p. 67 sqq., considered, in extensive sketches, in the treat- 
ment of determining the aim of the sermon. Every point, there con- 
sidered, furnishes suggestions for one or more themes. 

2. An entire series of themes is furnished by the exegesis of the 
Epistle and Gospel. (See Dr. Keppler's Adventperikopen.) 

§ 8. Third Sunday of Advent 

I. Fundamental thought and sentiment: Christ our joy. This is 
the fundamental thought. The fundamental character and sen- 
timent of this Sunday is Christ, or the joy of Advent: Joy over 
Christ Who soon will come. The invitatorium announces joyfully: 
Prope est jam Dominus, venite adoremus. The Introit proclaims it 
in a jubilant manner (Philipp. c. 4:4): Gaudete in Domino, iterum 
dico gaudete: Dominus enim prope est. The same tone of joy issues 
forth from the Epistle, in the self-same words. The more serious 
Gospel terminates finally in the same tone of thought: Medius 
autem vestrum stat; but adds: quern vos nescitis! Herein is con- 
tained a mighty command to learn to know Christ better. 

We will here merely sketch the trend of thoughts. 

1. Christ is near us at all times: Gaudete, iterum dico gaudete: 
Dominus enim prope est: The truth of Christ — Christ the way 
(example) — the life of Christ (grace) — Christ in His Church — ■ 
Christ in His sacrament. But a too general, wide, and broad 
development of these points should be avoided. A rapid concen- 
tration, in concrete lines, is sufficient, f.i. : Have we thought of it? 
Christ meets us everywhere — His truth: in every dogma and 
catechetical sentence — His example : in the Gospel of every Sun- 
day, give a sketch of Him — everywhere. He meets us in His 
Church — personally in the most adorable Sacrament of the Altar 
— in His life: in every grace. Have you really thought of this? 
Is not St. John justified in making the complaint against us : Medius 
vestrum stat, quern vos nescitis? Gaudete: Dominus enim prope est. 
Religion, therefore, is joy and not a cause of gloom. (See p. 68.) 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



2. Christ is nearer in the time of Advent. The remembrance of 
Christ is more vivid — the graces of the approaching feast of 
Christmas are greater. What has been the object of Advent so 
far? To bring us nearer to Christ. What is the object of the 
rest of Advent? To bring you still nearer to Christ. 

3. Christ is nearest to us by a Christian life. Propior est nostra 
salus quani credidinius — the Church announced to us in the Epistle 
of the first Sunday of Advent. (Rom. 13: 11.) Salvation, the 
Saviour is now nearer to us than at the time when we began to 
believe, when we began the Christian life as children or after our 
conversion. The salvation of the Redeemer is nearer through the 
ever increasing graces. But also the eternal salvation, the day of 
death, with the Judge, is nearer. Is this really our disposition? 
Are we nearer to Christ? That depends on — whether the proud 
"Ego" is in the center of our hearts, or, Christ. 

(a) Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. Our modesty, 
the essence of morality, must show itself everywhere — penetrate 
into all things. 

(b) Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. The root of 
this modesty is humility (p. 69). 

Ill Theme. Theme A. A homily on the Gospel. (See Keppler, 
Adventperikopen.) 

Theme B. A homily on the Epistle, (very grateful). Individual 
exegesis, p. 69. 

Theme C. Christ our joy (see p. 68). 

Theme D. Christ is near us, nearer, nearest. (See the above ex- 
planations: a complete view of the liturgy.) The first points should be 
short and lofty, awakening real joy for Christ. Into the loosened soil 
of feeling the third part sows practical seed. 

Theme E. What did St. John think of Christ? (Gospel). 

Theme F. What did St. John think of himself and what of Christ? 
(Gospel see p. 69.) 

Theme G. The questions put to John. (Compare the Gospel of 
the second Sunday of Advent). A question concerning Christ. A 
question about the precursor of Christ. Today: a further question 
concerning the precursor of Christ. This would also furnish a pro- 
gram of a cycle of sermons, f.i., for the morning and evening of the 
second Sunday of Advent, and for the morning of the third Sunday. All 
these are questions concerning ourselves, and are for us. (Compare 
p. 67 sqq.) 

Theme H. The formation of Christ in us: Filioli quos iterum parturio^ 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 195 



donee in vobis formetur Christus (Gal. 4: 19). "I am filled with the 
cares and the sorrows of a mother for you, until Christ be formed in 
you." These are the words of the Church in Advent: I have brought 
the Lord nigh to you through baptism. Have you kept your baptismal 
vows? I have brought the Lord nearer to you by the word and the 
example of the sermon. How about your attendance at sermons? I 
have brought the Lord nearest to you in holy communion. Did you 
expel Him through mortal sin, or have you defaced His image through 
venial sins? I have recently brought Him nearer to you in confession. 
Will you not fulfil the resolutions of your last confession against your 
predominant sin, against faults of character, or will you not make your 
Advent and Christmas confession with a firm resolution that Christ 
may be formed in you? 

Theme I. The third Sunday of Advent, the feast of humility. (Com- 
pare I Sunday of Advent, the feast of fear; II Sunday of Advent, the 
feast of hope; III Sunday of Advent, the feast of joy; IV Sunday of 
Advent, the feast of penance. A splendid moral theology and corre- 
sponding liturgies will furnish rich thoughts for this. See also p. 69, 
p. 84, II, p. 189 II, p. 193 I, p. 197 II). 

Theme J. Love of truth in the holy Gospel. The answers of St. John 
show: 

1. The rational, honest love of truth in general. It was not precisely 
humility, but noble veracity, and absolute duty of veracity, combined 
with holy official duty which made him deny flatly the question: Art 
thou the Messiah? This fundamental mark of character every noble 
honest man must possess. (Compare the index of the Apologie, by A. 
Weiss on " Wahrhaf tigkeit " — die Erziehungskunst by Alban Stolz 
on the same theme — moralists and pedagogues on truth, veracity and 
falsehood.) (The literal sense of the eighth commandment and a moral 
sermon on the same would be very effective upon this biblical background. 
Preachers must never forget that they must rear noble men and Chris- 
tians, not egoists: modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. Your 
social virtues ought be known to all men.) 

2. A deeper and noble love of the truth of humility. Eumilitas est 
virtus, qua quis verissima sui cognitione sibi ipsi vilescit. (Compare the 
explanations p. 70.) St. John is not deceived by the flattering questions 
concerning the truth about himself. He acknowledges truly and openly 
his human lowliness. But he admits the greatness of his professional 
mission. But, above all, he proclaims joyfully, in deep and truthful 
humility, the greatness of God (Christ) . Thus — we are taught by the 
Gospel to love the truth of humility. 

Theme K. True and false joy. (Each should be treated in anti- 
theses and in points, rather than in two parts.) (a) Pleasure in mockeries 



196 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and joy in faith, (b) Pleasure in passion, joy in precepts. (Lust 
serves the law of passion in false pleasure — love serves the law of Christ 
in real joy.) (c) Joy away from Christ — joy near Christ. (Confession 
— communion — noble earthly joy in the state of grace.) 

Theme L. Christian Temperance, in the constant nearness of Christ. 
Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. 
Treat this from different moral points of view. Describe thereby Christ 
near us in the ecclesiastical year, in Advent — in the Tabernacle — in 
holy communion, etc., Christ who enters through the ear (sermons), 
through the tongue (Communion), into the heart (by grace), and 
everywhere commands holy modesty, the golden medium. (Compare 
the ascetic works of St. Francis of Sales.) 

Theme M. Temperance in eating and drinking. Modestia vestra 
nota sit omnibus hominibus. Upon the first pages of the New Testa- 
ment, at the beginning of the history of the youth of Jesus (Luke i : i sqq.), 
and again at the beginning of the public life of Jesus there appears an 
overpowering example of temperance in eating and drinking, abstinence, 
in the Christian sense of the word: John the Baptist, who makes tem- 
perance a duty for all, a higher temperance which he announces as an 
advice and a social act. (Compare John and Christ.) Upon this 
biblical gold-field deliver practical temperance sermons. (See the preface 
of Lent.) 

§ 9. Fourth Sunday oe Advent 

I. The fundamental thought. The way to Christ. A clear alter- 
native — either — or! — was announced on the first Sunday: Select 
either Christ, the Redeemer, or Christ, the Judge. The choice was 
not difficult. And the Epistle of the first Sunday of Advent desig- 
nated the choice very clearly : abjiciamus opera tenebrarum. Christ 
is the Saviour, the salvation; and thus the second Sunday pro- 
claimed it and painted the image of the Saviour in resplendent 
lines, upon the dark background of human need and poverty; 
accedite ad eum et illuminamini ! The third Sunday proclaimed 
Christ, in a vivid manner, as the source of our joy, and drew the 
image of the Saviour more deeply, more lovingly, and in more 
richly colored splendor. Gaudete: Dominus enim prope est. 
Through the whole the practical admonition was woven: Par ate 
mam Domini. But as though the Church were solicitous, as though 
she suspected that many of the hill-climbers would lag on the way 
to the mountain of the Lord, fearing that they would stray into 
by-paths or actually fall into precipices — therefore she offers her- 
self on this Sunday as a guide, and she describes the way to Christ, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 197 



our salvation and our joy, most sharply, most clearly, and most 
minutely, in order that we may not fall into the hands of the Judge 
— instead of the Redeemer : Par ate viam Domini. Rectas facite 
semitas ejus. (Gospel.) 1 

EE. Fundamental sentiment: Penance. A return to the right 
way. The making of the way. A road to Christ: Joannes prae- 
dicans baptismum poenitentiae in remissionem peccatorum. A more 
proximate development of this fundamental sentiment of the third 
Sunday of Advent is found above, pp. 70, 71. 

III. A complete view of the liturgy. 

(A) The fact: Christ appeared and lived for us. This is no 
myth. He came in the broad daylight of history. The ringer of 
the clock of the world pointed just as the beginning of the Gospel 
of the day describes. (See the thoughts given below on the vigil 
of Christmas: Prime and martyrology, and especially 749 sqq.) 
Christ actually lives among us: as God, as man, and as the God- 
man Redeemer. (Epistle.) 

(B) Our accounting for this fact. Every one is obliged to 
reckon with this fact: voluntarily now; involuntarily at the second 
advent of Christ. From this there follows an irrefutable "ergo"; 
" Prepare the way of the Lord." (See the Gospel, also Luke 3: 1-6; 
Mark 1: 2 sqq.; Mai. 3:1; Isaias 40: 3-5; Dr. Keppler, Advent- 
perikopen, p. 108 sqq.) 

(a) Rectas facite semitas ejus: "The way." The right way is 
indicated by the principles which emanate from faith and the 
commandments. Error and passions establish false principles — 
they interrupt the track which leads to the eternal station, they 
cause catastrophies. 

(b) Omnis vallis implebitur. "That which is wanting, which is 
missing," must be replaced. Duties not fulfilled (Sunday, confes- 
sion-day, Friday, vocation-day; Christian duties, duties of one's 
state of life). 

(c) Omnis collis et mons humiliabitur : "The superabundance of 
intellectual passion": of pride and its satellites. "The super- 
fluity" of sensual passions must be removed. Passion itself is no 
evil. But its superfluity begets hills and mountains of sin. 

1 Compare with this climax of the first, second, and third Sunday of Advent, the 
second week of the Ignatian Exercises and the climax continued therein. Note the 
progress of thought in the meditation on: de regno Christi — de duobus vexillis — de 
tribus classibus hominum, etc. See chap. 6: Ascetic literature, p. 595. 



198 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



All this should become a via recta et plana in Christum. The 
kingdom of Christ is a spiritual one: therefore, all these splendid 
pictures may be explained in a manifold spiritual sense. (See also 
pp. 70, 71, 72.) Do not select all at once. Let the image of St. 
John be prominent. 

IV. Themes follow from the above explanations and the suggestions 
on pp. 70-73. See also Keppler, Adventperikopen, Dippel, Kirchen- 
jahr, IV Sunday of Advent. (Compare Grimm, "Leben Jesu": ueber 
Johannes.) 



The liturgy insists mightily upon the preparation of the hearts 
for the Saviour during the course of Advent. The ever-increasing 
sentiment attains its fullest expression especially: 

(a) In the ferial offices of Advent. 

(b) In the Rorate masses. 

(c) In the ember-days' offices of Advent. 

(d) In the great antiphons from December 17. 

(e) In the beautiful feast of the Immaculate Conception during 
Advent, which, like the dawn (Mary), precedes the rising of the 
sun (the nativity of Christ). Ever since the solemn dogmatic 
definition by Pius IX, in the year 1854, the feast received a higher 
splendor and was raised by Leo XIII, on Dec. 5, 1879, to a feast 
of /. class, cum vigilia {quoad missam). The liturgy of the feast 
and its octave is filled with dogmatic and ascetic golden veins. 
(P. 112: 2.) 

(J) In some of the feasts celebrated only in particular coun- 
tries, f.i., the Expectatio partus Beatae Mariae Vir., December 18, 
etc. 

§ 10. The Vigil of Christmas 

The day before Christmas is a highly privileged vigil of the 
nativity of the Lord, wdiich cannot be replaced by any other feast. 
As a sign of the approaching joy the office beginning at Laudes is 
celebrated with a double rite. 

At prime the celebrant, vested in cope and wdth a solemn in- 
censation, announces, in the martyrology, the approaching birth 
of the Lord. 

This celebration is most properly the solemnity of the nativity of 
Christ, as a historical fact, as the actual central point of all history. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 199 



The preacher may therefore receive many suggestions for a develop- 
ment of the birth of Christ from the grand simple texts of the martyrology 
on the vigil of Christmas. The birth occurs in the full daylight of his- 
tory. It is no pre-historical tradition, no nebulous legend. Yet the 
preacher should not enter today into a discussion of the chronology of 
the martyrology, in regard to the age of the human race. The biblical 
chronology can only be utilised as an approximation of the age of the 
human race, and never for an actual calculation of time back to the 
days of the first acts of creation. The chronology of the Vulgata is 
especially uncertain; that of the Septuagint deviates very much from 
that of the Vulgata. The chronology of the Vulgata is by no means 
dogmatically defined. The Church herself contradicts it officially in 
the martyrology of the vigil of Christmas. But the martyrology itself 
is by no means dogmatically a norm. There is no other ecclesiastical 
definition or declaration. Holy Scripture itself, though solemnly and 
fully and completely delivered to us by the Church as an infallible 
source of faith, leaves us in an uncertainty. In annis horum patriarch- 
arum numerandis (ab Adam usque ad Noe) textus hebraicus (1656) 
samaritanus (1305) et Graecus LXX (2242) discrepant; — Ecclesia variae 
supputationes indifferenter assumere videtur, dum in Vulgata textum 
hebraicum sequitur, in martyrologio autem Romano annos comptitat juxta 
LXX. Sed quoniam hebraei numeros litteris ex primer ent, etiam corrup- 
tioni dabatur facile locus. (Zschokke, Historia sacra, p. 43.) To com- 
pute the four weeks of Advent as the four (untenable) thousand years 
before Christ, is not admissible for other reasons: for, as has already 
been pointed out, Advent lasted in some Churches, according to the 
ancient sacramentaries and other reports, sometimes five, sometimes 
six, and sometimes seven weeks. The general celebration of four weeks 
is a comparatively later development. To assume four thousand years, 
therefore, from Adam to Christ is as much against good solid exegesis 
as it is against scientific liturgy. The weeks of Advent designate the 
time before Christ without any definite calculation in numbers. In the 
present development of the Depositum fidei we possess no exactly defined 
enumeration. The modern preacher should therefore guard here against 
operating with determined figures : he might do serious injury instead of 
edifying and doing something useful. 

The fundamental sentiment of the vigil of Christmas is given, in 
the best manner, by the introit of the mass, from Exodus 16: Hodie 
scietis, quia veniet Dominus et salvabit vos et mane videbitis gloriam ejus. 

There still exists the sentiment of Advent; but the rays of joy 
are penetrating constantly, more and more lovely and resplen- 
dent: color violaceus — sine gloria — but or alio unica — jejunium 



2oo HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



gaudiosum. The preacher of Christmas will find in the office of 
the vigil, especially in the antiphons, hymns, and orations, very 
rich suggestions. The vigil may also fall upon a Sunday: then 
the preacher has a most excellent occasion, according to the example 
of St. John Chrysostom, to prepare the genuine sentiment of Christ- 
mas directly in the spirit of the vigil. In this case the explanation 
of the nocturnal hours and of the midnight mass might readily be 
chosen as a subject for sermons. 

§ ii. A Review of Advent 

We will cast a rapid and a surveying glance, once more, over 
the more richly developed contents of the thoughts of Advent. 

We may reduce the great ideas of the celebration of Advent to 
the following central thoughts: 

1. The Redeemer pointed out by the prophets. Especially 
does Isaias, the evangelist of the Old Law, unfold the image of the 
Redeemer and of His kingdom, from without and from within. 

2. The Redeemer — Christ Jesus Himself: 

A. The Judge. (I. Sunday of Advent.) 

B. The Redeemer. (II. Sunday of Advent.) 

C. The Benefactor. (III. Sunday of Advent.) 

D. The way that leads to Him. (IV. Sunday of Advent.) 
Or: 

A. Christ corning to judgment. (I. Sunday of Advent.) 

B. Christ coming to redeem. (II. Sunday of Advent.) 

C. Christ present (f.i., in the remembrance of Christmas and 
in the renewal of Christmas in the mass and the Sacrament. III. 
Sunday of Advent.) 

D. Christ remaining as our guide and our way. (IV. Sunday 
of Advent.) There might also be admitted a free cycle on Christ, 
in connection with the fundamental thoughts. (Compare § i-io.) 

3. The precursor of the Redeemer: 

A. John gives testimony of Christ. (I. Sunday of Advent.) 

B. John is pointed out by Christ. (II. Sunday of Advent.) 

C. The person of John: portrait, type, example. (III. Sunday 
of Advent.) 

D. The mission of John: a presentation of his mission (guide); 
TV. Sunday of Advent). 

Here likewise a freer cycle on St. John's birth, character, mis- 
sion, death, etc., might be formed. (See rjp. 149-151, § 8.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 201 



4. Acts performed for the Redeemer: 

(a) Holy fear. (I. Sunday of Advent.) 

(b) Hope. (II. Sunday of Advent.) 

( c ) J°y- (HI. Sunday of Advent.) 

(d) Penance. (IV. Sunday of Advent.) 
Or: 

(a) A look upwards to God. (I. Sunday of Advent.) 

(b) A look inwards, into ourselves. (II. Sunday of Advent.) 

(c) A look into the future. (I. Sunday of Advent, the Gospel.) 

(d) A stability of character in regard to Christ. (II. Sunday, see 
Gospel.) 

(e) Love of sentiment for Christ: amor qffectivus. (III. Sun- 
day of Advent.) 

(J) Love of deeds for Christ : Amor effectivus, which follows the 
road to Christ and removes all obstacles. (IV. Sunday of Advent.) 

The entire Advent is a coming and a rapping of the Lord. He 
comes as the Redeemer and the Judge. (I. and II. week: Do 
penance!) Go and meet Him! He is nigh: rejoice! (III. week.) 
He stands at the door and knocks: Prepare the way for Him! 
Open, that He may enter. (IV. week.) 

§ 12. Christmas. Historical Remarks 1 

The feast of the Nativity of the Lord was celebrated in the 
Roman church, and also in the most of the western churches, very 
early, as a special feast on the twenty-fifth of December. In the 
most of the churches of the East the birth of Christ was celebrated 
simultaneously with the first manifestation of Christ (Epiphany) 
the sixth of January. It has been observed in relation to this, 
that the East gradually adopted the western feast of Christmas 
toward the end of the fourth and at the beginning of the fifth cen- 
turies, besides the feast of the Epiphany on the sixth of January, 
whereas the West received from the East the great solemnity of 
Epiphany. 

For this we have irrefutable proofs: thus, two sermons of St. 
John Chrysostom which have been handed down to us. In the 
one he announces to his congregation, on Dec. 20, 388, on the 

1 The solemn feast of the Incarnation is the feast of the Annunciation of the Bl. V., 
nine months earlier, March, 25. See Stecher's Marienpredigten, Mater Admirabilis, 
PP- 255—265, esp. p. 263, and Kellner's Heortologie, p. 146 sqq. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



feast of St. Philogonius, that the feast of Christmas will be observed 
at Antioch for the first time on the twenty-fifth of December. The 
other is the sermon for Christmas itself, of the year 388. Therein 
we read these interesting passages: 

"What the patriarchs long ago expected, the prophets an- 
nounced, and the just longed to behold was done today. ... It 
is not yet ten years since this day has become known to us, and 
yet its solemnity has become so splendid, through your zeal, as 
if it had been delivered to us from ancient times. Therefore he 
will not err who calls this feast both new and old: new, because 
it has just been made known to us, but old, because it has become 
so rapidly like the older feasts. As a noble tree sinks at the same 
time into the earth and rapidly grows to a great height and bears 
rich fruit — so, too, does this day. It was known from the beginning 
{avoiOev) to those who live in the West, but came to us only within 
the past few years, grew up suddenly and already bears glorious 
fruit, which we behold today, since this temple has become too 
small to contain the vast crowd of the faithful." 1 

A similar phenomenon we observe in Egypt. 

In his Collationes (between 418 and 427) Joannes Cassianus 
reports from Egypt, where he had studied the institutions of the 
monasteries of the fifth century: According to ancient custom the 
bishops regard Epiphany as the natal day of the Lord. But as 
early as the year 432 Cyrill Paul of Emesa delivered, as the guest 
of the patriarch, the Christmas sermon on the twenty-fifth day of 
December. 2 

On the contrary Epiphanius of Salamis, of Cyprus, as late as 
the end of the fourth century, designates the sixth of January as 
the natal day of the Lord and the eighth as the baptismal day. 
(Adv. haeres. II, 1. haer. 51 al. 31, c. 16 and 24 ed. Petav., p. 

439> 436.) 

From this it follows that: 

1 Chryst. Horn, in nativ. Ch. ed. Montfaucon, II 352 Migne, ed. 49, II 351. 

Chrysostom distinguishes between the old celebration in Rome, its rapid propaga- 
tion in the past few years, its knowledge in Antioch, where for a long time it was 
contended for and against, the lower classes were enthusiastic over it — and its final 
introduction into Antioch in 388. Gregory of Naziancene celebrated the first 
Christmas on December 25, 379 (Homilia 38 in Theophania, Migne, Pat. Graec. 
t. 36). As a stranger and a guest, he began his activity as Bishop of the second 
capital of the empire after the great arian battle, in his private chapel, Anastasia. 

2 Usener, Religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, I. 320 sqq. Bonn, 1889. 
Several objections in Duchesne, Bull, critique, 1890, Nr. 3. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 203 



1. Christmas was celebrated in Rome on the twenty-fifth day 
of December from the earliest days. 

2. In the East no natal day was celebrated, or, if so, it was 
simultaneously with the Epiphany of the Lord. 

3. Christmas was generally introduced in the East only after 
the eightieth year of the fourth century. 

Epiphany in the West was scarcely ever considered a natal 
day, but was introduced gradually from the East, and thus became 
a legalized holy-day. 

Concerning the actual natal day of the Lord itself, there existed 
a controversy as early as the second century, f.i., in Alexandria. 
There a party contended for the twentieth of May, the Basilians 
decided for the tenth of January; the rest designated the sixth of 
January (therefore, the later Epiphany, the eleventh day of the 
Egyptian month of Tybi) as the natal day of Christ and celebrated 
on this day the feast of the nativity. 1 Even St. Chrysostom had 
already attempted to determine the natal day of Christ by math- 
ematical computation, though the basis and the initial points 
from which he arrived at the twenty-fifth of December are not 
very safe. All later computations also failed to attain any sure 
results, since the four Evangelists give no fixed data, and all others 
were scarcely reliable enough. Therefore, simply a trustworthy, 
constant, and old tradition alone may be considered, in a measure, 
decisive, — if there were not purely symbolical reasons that occa- 
sioned the introduction of the feast of Christmas on the twenty- 
fifth of December. To determine this date by mathematical 
chronology might have, in the above case, been later attempted 
after the symbolical reasons had escaped the memory. Still, let 
us enter more closely into the highly interesting history of the feast. 

We will quote the several witnesses for the celebration of Christ- 
mas on the twenty-fifth of December, especially those of the West, 
with some of the entire documents more closely connected with 
western developments. 

Since our homiletic aim forbids us to enter more closely into 
the history of all feasts, we wish, at least, to weave into the one 
or other feast a more minute review of the modern archeo- 
logical results of investigations, since such knowledge may furnish 
the preacher indirectly and the pastor of souls many useful points, 
which may be, especially for the more educated class, utilized in 

1 Clemens Alex. Strom. I, ed. Sylburg 340. Kellner, Heortologie, p. 98 sqq. 



204 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



more direct liturgical addresses. It is worth the while, especially 
in large cities and industrial centers, etc., to deliver, during Christ- 
mas and Holy Week, thorough liturgical discourses, which should 
combine, in a proper manner, liturgical, dogmatic, apologetic, and 
archeological and ideal work of research. By such discourses to 
societies or to the more educated classes, a great deal of good can 
be accomplished by popularizing the liturgy and interweaving 
apologetics into ecclesiastical thoughts, prayer, and life. 

1. The alleged testimony of Hippolytus. The dating of the birth of 
Christ on the twenty-fifth of December is lacking, according to many 
archeologists and historical investigators, a demonstrable historical 
foundation. The respective passage of a commentary of Hippolytus 
on Daniel, discovered in Chalki, recent research has declared to be an 
interpolation. 1 

2. The testimony of the chronogram of 354. The most ancient cer- 
tain document is the so-called Roman chronogram of the year 354. The 
feast, however, is, no doubt, older than this its first testimony. The 
chronogram of 354 is a collection of chronological, calendric, and historical 
notes of a civil and an ecclesiastical nature. The several parts emanate 
from various times; in the more ancient calendria later additions are 
found. The name of the compiler, who collected this State and eccle- 
siastical calendar, with its sketches and statistics about the year 354, is 
well known. Only one single part of the collection, the calendar of the 
feasts of the year 354, bears the name of Furius Dionysius Philocalus y 
known as the later caligrapher of Pope Damasus and also well known 
through inscriptions on the catacombs. To him the more prominent 
of the modern investigators ascribe the last redaction of the entire 
collection or of the greatest part thereof. The whole collection is known 
and quoted as the calendric work of Philocalus, chronographer of 354, 
or, according to the editors of the various parts of the collection: Onu- 
phrius Panvini, Aegid, Biicher, S.J., Lambeck, Henschen, Card. 
Noris, Eccard, Roncalli, Mommsen, Strzygowski. 

For us the following parts of the chronogram are of considerable 
consideration. 

(a) The fasti consular es down to a.d. 354. This consular list con- 
tains only the names of the consuls and notes of the dictators to 753 u. c, 
immediately after 753 u. c. it contains also four ecclesiastical historical 
sketches, after this no more: they treat of the year of the birth and of 
the death of Christ, the advent of the Apostles Peter and Paul to Rome 
and of their death. This list, therefore, is of a first-class importance in 
regard to the determination of the feast of Christmas. In contrast to 
1 Cf. Kellner, Heortologie, p. 94 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 205 



the accounts of the more ancient ecclesiastical writers Irenaeus, Clement 
of Alex., Tertullian, The Pseudo-Cyprian, and the general accounts of 
the Gospels, which make use of the imperial years for their chronology — 
the chronogram designates the year of the consulate, but maintains a 
strained relationship with the other reports, since these point to 751-752 
u. c. and those of the chronogram to 754 u. c. Still more important is 
another part of the chronogram of 354 for our question. 

(b) It is the already mentioned Depositio Martyrum. This is a 
list of the mortuary days (Natalitia) of the martyrs honored in the city 
of Rome. Into this list of the martyrs the twenty-fifth of December 
is introduced as the birthday of Christ. Recent researches maintain that 
this introduction, like that of the feast of the Chair of St. Peter (VIII 
Calend. Mart.), does not absolutely belong to the Depositio. That it is 
an introduction by a later hand, possibly of the last compiler of the col- 
lection, into which the Depositio Martyrum was inserted. To us, how- 
ever, it appears that such a Martyr-Calendar grew very naturally into 
an ecclesiastical calendar, and that the temptation was near to intro- 
duce also other feasts, which had already become festa fixa, into the 
calendar. The principal feasts of Easter and of Pentecost, owing to 
their mobility, could not be inserted into this fixed monthly calendar. 
And thus nothing would contradict the assumption that the introduc- 
tion of the feast of Christmas into the Depositio Martyrum had already 
taken place considerable time before Philocalus, so that he or whoever 
was the compiler found it already in the list of the martyrs. The note 
of the chronogram reads: 1 p. Ch. Caesare et Paulo sat. XIII. Hoc. cons, 
Dms. ihs. XPC. natus est VIII. Cal., Jan. d. ven. Luna XV. Which means 
Christ was born under the consulate of C. Caesar Augustus and L. 
Aemilius Paulus (754 u. c.) on December 25, a Friday, on the 15th day 
of the new-moon. 1 Criticism finds many objections to this calculation 
of time as well as to that n. 1, mentioned below. 2 But it is generally 
admitted that the chronogram of 354 is the first indisputed witness of the 
fact that the twenty-fifth of December was admitted as the actual natal day 
of Christ in the W est. The introduction into the Depositio Martyrum, in 
connection with what has already been said, makes it most probable 
that, at the time of this introduction, the feast of the birth of Christ 
was actually celebrated in Rome on the twenty-fifth of December. The 
celebration of Christmas on the twenty-fifth of December in Rome is 
therefore almost certainly determined. Since the introduction into the 
fasti and the Depositio Martyrum could have been done sooner, still the 
possibility of an earlier introduction of Christmas in Rome remains. 

1 XIII denotes the epact, Sat. denotes Saturni and represents the dominical letter. 
Kellner, Heortologie, p. 93 sqq. 

2 Details see in Kellner, p. 93 sqq. 



2o6 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



And though the compiler of 354 merely occasioned the introduction, he 
nevertheless testifies thereby in behalf of the determined general opinion 
concerning the birth of Christ, which had its foundation in a more 
remotely existing celebration, especially so since, as we shall see below, 
the celebration is also mentioned for this time. We have still a third 
part of this chronogram to examine. It is 

(c) A civil (pagan) calendar of feasts for the year 354, which Furius 
Dionysius Philocalus had written and artistically ornamented (intitula- 
vit). It is dedicated to a certain Valentius. This Calendarium Phi- 
locali of the collection contains, on the twenty-fifth of December, the 
inscription: Dies Natalis Solis invicti. This notice is explained in a 
manner that during pagan times, soon after the winter solstices, the 
increasing light was celebrated by a " birthday of the invincible God of 
the Sun." The pagan Mithras — and sun-worship of the third and 
fourth centuries after Christ, might possibly have favored such a day 
more highly. We must always remember in regard to this explanation 
that, as far as we know, the Dies Natalis Solis invicti is nowhere else 
expressly mentioned than in the calendarium of Philocalus. Several 
Christian archeologists, like Duchesne, 1 Kellner, 2 construct upon the 
foundation of this Dies Natalis Solis a hypothesis of the rise of the 
feast of Christmas. "What was more natural for the Christians of 
that time and at that natural phenomenon and feast, which could escape 
no one, than to think of the birth of Him Who is the true light of the 
world." 3 Reference hereby is made to the biblical expressions: Oriens 
ex Alto, lux magna, lumen ad revelationem gentium, to the phrases of the 
holy Fathers: Christus solvents: 4 Hie est sol novus noster* etc., and, espe- 
cially, to texts of the liturgy: Sidus revulget jam novum (Vigil), Orietur 
sicut sol Salvator mundi (Laudes), and more especially to the lessons 
of the first nocturn. 

"What was therefore more natural for the native Roman than to 
transfer the natal day of this new and true Sun to the day whereon, 
from ancient times, a Dies Natalis Solis had already been marked in his 
calendar and on which day the pagan population already celebrated a 
feast. 6 To arrive at this idea it was not necessary to wait until the 
days of Constantine. 7 

The traditions of later times concerning the actual day of the birth 
as the twenty-fifth of December are, according to the above mentioned 
archeologists, the results of oratorical efforts, and not the echoes of 
tradition. 

1 Duchesne, Origines du culte Chret., p. 250. 4 Cypr. de orat. dom. 35. 

2 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 102. 5 Ambro Sermo VII, 1, 3, Migne 1. 7, 614. 

3 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 102. 6 Maximus Taur. Horn. 103, Migne, 57, 491. 

7 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 102. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 207 



Against these very sympathetic explanations the question might, 
indeed, be raised: Did not Philocalus himself, or whoever was the 
chronographer of 354, who entered the natal day of Christ into the 
consular fasti and into the Depositio Martyrum of the well-known col- 
lection, also make the same entry into the transcribed and caligraphi- 
cally ornated calendar of the same collection? This calendar contains 
apparently no notice of the birthday of Christ. But it would not be 
impossible to have Christmas, symbolically designated resp. the natal 
day of Christ, by the just mentioned words: Natalis Solis invicti. In 
this event Philocalus himself — since there are no other pagan witnesses 
of a solar feast — could have been the first to enter this name, alluding 
to the natural phenomenon as Christmas, into the civil calendar. Could 
he not possibly have based his calculations upon a prior Christmas 
celebration and upon an old tradition in favor of the twenty-fifth of 
December as the real birthday of Christ? Thus he could have put into 
the civil calendar, which prior to this made no mention of a Natalis 
Solis, with a symbolical turn what he had entered in plain words into the 
fasti and the Depositio Martyrum. There is still another indirect testi- 
mony of Christmas mentioned in the chronogram, viz. : 

(d) The Depositio Episcoporum (a list of the mortuary-days of the 
deceased Roman bishops, from 225-352, entered into the collection of 
the chronogram), in connection with the already mentioned Depositio 
Martyrum. The Depositio Episcoporum begins the year with the twenty- 
seventh of December and the Depositio Martyrum with the twenty-fifth 
of December. Duchesne surmises that the celebration of Christmas 
formed an ecclesiastical period long before 354, possibly ever since 243 . 1 
It is scarcely probable that an effort was made in Rome to supplant 
the saturnalian feasts (from December 17-23) by the newly introduced 
feast of Christmas. 

3. The Testimony of St. Ambrose 

The calendric work of the chronogram ends with the year 354. For 
this time, however, Christmas has other witnesses. With the year 354 
we have reached the pontificate of Liberius, and for his pontificate espe- 
cially the celebration of Christmas is again verified. 2 Pope Liberius 
invested the older sister of St. Ambrose, Marcellina, with the veil of a 
nun on the feast of Christmas, in the basilica of St. Peter. The address 
of Liberius on the occasion is transmitted to us by Ambrose, de Virg. 
III. 1 (Migne, 16: 219.) He recalls to the mind of his sister the words 
of the papal address: "When you sealed the vow of virginity in St. 
Peter's, also by the change of dress, on the day of the birth of the Re- 
deemer — on what day could this have been done more appropriately 



1 Duchesne, Bull. crit. 1890, n. 3, p. 41 sqq. 2 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 99. 



2o8 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



than on the day on which the Virgin Mary received her offspring — he 
(Liberius) said: "What an excellent espousal! You see what a vast 
multitude of people gathered to celebrate the birthday of your spouse, 
and how no one departs hence unnourished," etc. 

The testimony of Ambrose, therefore, confirms that of the chrono- 
gram: the year of the investiture of Marcellina cannot be exactly de- 
termined. The conclusion that Liberius himself instituted the feast of 
Christmas is, however, entirely unjustified. Several archeologists, f.i., 
Usener, owing to the fact that Liberius mentions in his address the miracle 
of Cana and of the multiplication of the bread, are of the opinion that 
the Natalis Salvatoris is the Epiphany (Jan. 6), but this without any 
reasonable ground. 

4. The Testimony of Sylvia Peregrina 

The celebrated pilgrim, Sylvia of Bordeaux, was present in Jeru- 
salem in the year 385, one year before the death of Cyril, on the feast 
of the nativity of Christ, which was celebrated with the feast of Epiphany 
on the sixth of January. {Peregrinatio Sylviae 82, [59. cod.] ed. Geyer, 
c. 25.) In the still extant report Sylvia describes a procession from Jeru- 
salem to Bethlehem, which took place on the eve of Epiphany and that 
it returned to Jerusalem in the early dawn, to the solemnly decorated 
church of Anastasius of Jerusalem. There is question here, most cer- 
tainly, of the celebration of the birth of Christ. It was a fact that in 
several localities of the East the sixth of January was celebrated as the 
actual birthday of Christ even down to the fifth century. (Cf. Jerome 
in Ezech. I, 3, Migne 25:15 [written about 41 1] ). The feast in which this 
Gallic-Roman nun took part on her pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and 
which is described by her, was Epiphany; but the birth of Christ formed 
an entirely prominent part of this feast. (See the following testimony, 
and, below, the history of Epiphany.) 

' 5. The testimony of John of Nice. Within this range of thoughts we 
find, independently of other testimonies, a writing of the tenth century, 
which, however, contains within itself an earlier testimony. There lived about 
the year 900 a certain John of Nice, bishop of the same place. He wished 
to induce the Armenians to celebrate the feast or the nativity of Christ on 
the twenty-fifth of December. John of Nice adduced for the celebration 
of Christmas on the twenty-fifth of December the following reasons: 

(a) Pope Julius I (337-352) had instituted the feast of Christmas 
in Rome. 

(b) Cyril, the Bishop of Jerusalem (348-386), had succeeded in 
making this arrangement with Julius through a letter, from which he 
cites a part. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 209 



Many archeologists, however, f.i., Kellner, Heortologie, p. 104, 
assert, on the contrary, that Sylvia was present at the celebration of 
Christmas in Jerusalem on Epiphany in the year 385, therefore during 
the time of Cyril. Because Cyril, according to John of Nice, justifies 
the celebration of the feast of Christmas by asserting that one could not 
easily have made a pilgrimage from Jerusalem, on the feast of Epiphany, 
to the three-leagues-distant Bethlehem for the celebration of the nativity 
of Christ and then go to the fifteen-miles-distant place of baptism on 
the Jordan for the feast of baptism and of the manifestation of His 
divinity at the baptism, therefore, he claims it would be better to cele- 
brate Christmas earlier and on a day separated from Epiphany. Kellner, 
therefore, finds herein a contradiction: Sylvia, he claims, knew nothing 
of the procession to the Jordan ; through Gregory of Tours alone can this 
be traced to the sixth century. Sylvia, however, refers to a feast of 
the nativity of Christ on the sixth of January. Against this many 
objections might be raised. Sylvia, possibly, did not describe both pro- 
cessions because she could only take part in the one, and that was the 
one to Bethlehem, and could only give this one her principal attention. 
Besides, it was possible that Cyril made a proposition to Pope Julius L, 
his contemporary, for a separate celebration of the feast of Christmas 
even before he himself had introduced the innovation into Jerusalem. 
By a general introduction, which he advocated in Rome, he might more 
effectively advocate its introduction into Jerusalem. 

Cyril, in the quotation of John of Nice, gives reasons for the twenty- fifth 
of December as the natal day of Christ. Titus, he maintains, had dragged 
all the books of the Jews to Rome during the time of the destruction of 
Jerusalem. The Pope might investigate there. John of Nice then gives 
this account of Julius : The latter had found in the books of Josephus that 
Zachary had the vision of the Angel in the seventh month, on the day of 
the atonement, which then fell upon the twenty-first of September. St. 
John was born on the twenty- fourth day of June, and Christ, according to 
Luke 1 : 36, six months afterwards, on the twenty-fifth day of December. 
These mathematical explanations, as already remarked, are very assail- 
able. At all events, they are a scientific attempt for the support of an 
existing tradition. Kellner, though rather hastily, considers the inserted 
letter of Cyril a forgery (p. 87), though there are other reasons for sus- 
picion existing. Cf . Combefis, Hist, haeret. monoth., p. 304, Migne Patr. 
lat. 8, 964-968, who likewise considers Cyril's letter with suspicion. 
Others report that Bishop Juvenal (425-458) was the first to introduce 
into Jerusalem the twenty-fifth of December as the birthday of Christ. 

The result, therefore, may be summarized as follows: 
In Rome the feast of Christmas was celebrated on the twenty-fifth of 



2io HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



December at a comparatively early time, long before 354. The reason 
of the introduction was either: 

(a) An old tradition, which determined the birth of Christ for the 
twenty-fifth of December, or 

(b) the instigation of Cyril, based upon this tradition and the intro- 
duction by Julius I, or, there were 

(c) symbolical reasons, which re-stamped the twenty-fifth of De- 
cember — which followed closely upon the winter solstice, which was 
called in the pagan calendar (though only in that transmitted by 
Philocalus) Natalis Solis invicti — into the birthday of the supernatural 
Sun, Christ Jesus. In this event the introduction of the solemn feast, 
regardless of every tradition concerning the birthday of the Lord, 
would be readily explained. 

§ 13. Christmas: Liturgy and Homiletics 

Christmas of the present liturgy is the solemn feast of the 
nativity of Christ, a feast of first class with a solemn privileged 
octave, which, however, was constructed in a most unique manner, 
differing from the other three higher feasts: Epiphany, Easter, 
and Pentecost. 

The liturgical celebration of Christmas has three special peculi- 
arities: (a) The night service; (b) the three holy masses; (c) the 
privileged octave with the interspersed feasts of saints and of 
octaves. 

A. The Office 

The invitatorium of the nocturnal matins is the most lovely 
and beautiful of the whole year; we hear it, we pray it, and we 
recite it with the shepherds: Transeamus usque Bethlehem: Venite 
adoremus! 

The first Nocturn 1 gives the first impression of the birth of 
Christ : the fulfilled promise (first lesson Isaias 9) — the fulfilled 
longing (second lesson, Isa. 40) — the fulfilled joy (Isa. 52). Or: the 
truth of Christ (first lesson) — the pardon of Christ (second lesson) 
— the grace of Christ (third lesson) is at hand ! The enemies are 
raging (Psalm 2: quare fremuerent), the heavens jubilate (Ps. 18: 
Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei), the hearts rejoice and make offerings. 

1 Nocturnum (sc. officium) means primarily the prayer lesson of the night. {Duran- 
dus. Rationale divinorum officiorum, 5:3, 6) Matins. Later noctumus {cursus) 
(seldom nocturna hora) meant the occasional series of psalms of the night office 
(matins) with the corresponding lessons. Thus we speak now of the 1, 2, 3 nocturn. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 211 



(Ps. 44: Eructavit cor meum.) The King-Redeemer hath appeared 
— for our " weak flesh " — (omne carofoenum. Compare the second 
lesson, Isa. 40) He Himself hath become flesh, i.e., man. Another 
conception of the first nocturn shows us Jesus as our light and life : 
1. Christ is our Christmas light as truth (lesson of the I. N.). Jesus 
is our Christmas life as grace and in fact: 

(a) Our Redeemer from the death of sin. (II. Lesson.) 

(b) Our resuscitator to the life of grace. (III. lesson of the 
I. N.) 

What rich veins of gold are contained in this first nocturn! 
(The first nocturn celebrates the fact of the birth of Christ and 
the first impression of this fact: the light and life of the Redeemer.) 

The second nocturn is a solemn meditation of faith in the 
birth of Christ. Note the solemn messianic Psalms 47, 71, and 84; 
but above all the grand dogma of the Incarnation and of the birth 
of Christ in the lessons. It is high feast! The sermons of Leo 
the Great always furnish the festive preacher rich dogmatic stimu- 
lations and emotions, growing out of the depth of the animation 
of faith. (The second nocturn describes the dogma of the birth 
of Christ.) The third nocturn is the jubilant announcement of 
the birth of Christ: Three Gospels with three homilies coalesce into 
one joyful message: evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum. Whilst the 
first nocturn considers the fact of the birth of Christ, and the 
second nocturn the dogma, the doctrinal faith of the birth of Christ, 
the third announces the pragmatics of these historical facts, their 
depth, their significance as the greatest event of the plan of the 
world, of the history of the world: the first night of the year one, 
into which all the rays of time concentrate. But the psalms, 
however, sing the incessant songs of gratitude of all ages and the 
aeons of all these facts: misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo. 
Cantate! — Cantate! (The third nocturn opens the pragmatics of 
the birth of Christ, its place in the plan of the world, and of the 
history of divine providence.) 1 

1 These short sketches of the several noctums and of the hours show that a rich- 
ness of ideas and themes may be gathered by the preacher from the breviary. The 
noctums give him great historical points under which the homilist may consider the 
Gospels of Christmas and the dogma of Christmas. The lessons of the first and of 
the second nocturn offer the most fruitful ideas for a popular meditation on the 
mysteries of Christmas and of their catechetical and moral treatment in the festal 
sermons and homilies. But these lessons must be carefully worked out and studied. 
The rest of the hours is a school of the most exalted, lovely, and fruitful emotions. In 



212 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



In the lauds the latent pathos of the nocturns breaks forth 
into an ineffable jubilation: a Christmas jubilation over the birth 
of Christ. The echo of this jubilation rises and roars through all 
the hours and unites with the resolutions of our duties and fidelity 
to the banner of Our Saviour King. (Ps. 118.) 

In the vespers all the results of the joy, of jubilation, and of 
fidelity flow into one general stream, which passes before "the 
foot-stool of His feet" and before "the silent crib." The crib is 
now like an island, placed in an ocean of praise and glorification, 
which the Bride of the Lord gathers from all ends of the world, 
and brings to the feet of her dear little King. But, in the nothing- 
ness of his being and of his sin, the creature kneels in the dust 
before the Infant Saviour and recites in prayer the fourth Psalm 
of the Christmas Vespers (Ps. 129): Be profundis clamavi ad te 
D online — amidst the joyful antiphon of hope: With Thee there 
is merciful forgiveness and plentiful redemption. 

And when the brief Christmas sun inclines toward his setting, 
then the Church gathers up all the Christmas light into one in- 
genuous and yet unf athomably deep and silent holy contemplation : 
— in the Magnificat antiphon of the second Vespers : Hodie Christus 
natus est . . ., which carries a tender, quiet choral melody into 
the inmost sanctuary of the soul. 

Such is Christmas in the breviary! 

B. The Christmas Masses 

1. The triple Mass celebration. From ancient times the rite 
of Christmas contains a threefold celebration of the mass. 1 

the preparation of a Christmas sermon one must read and think himself into the Christ- 
mas office, and then new, uniquely beautiful, and practical emotions will always penetrate 
the soul of the preacher. The breviary, next to the missal, should especially be for 
the preacher a favorite book, out of which he may draw his most enduring and fruit- 
ful thoughts. Especially should the preacher seek in the breviary the most prolific, 
popular, and attractive reproductions of his dogmatic thoughts and of his inmost 
emotions. 

1 The sacramentarium Leonianum possesses the uniqueness of denoting a great 
selection of offices and masses for one single feast. Thus the feast of Christmas has 
nine masses, that of St. Laurence even fourteen. The Gelasianum acknowledges a 
multiplicity of mass formularies in this sense but seldom, the Gregorianum never. 
The Leonianum is really a collection of masses of many churches, in which often the 
same feast-day was celebrated in a different manner. The Gelasianum already indi- 
cates the first step to a greater uniformity, which was afterwards partly perfected 
by Gregory. For Christmas, however, there existed, from the earliest times, an 
arrangement for the triple celebration of mass. This arose primarily from the triple 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 213 



Every priest has permission to celebrate, even privately, three 
holy masses. Gregory the Great mentions the three masses as a 
matter of custom. (Horn. 8. in Ev.) The original Gelasianum 
recognizes the trina celebratio, a two or threefold celebration of 
the mass. (See Probst, die aeltesten roemischen Sacramentarien, p. 
182 and 183.) The first holy mass must not be celebrated before 
the stroke of the midnight hour. Besides the solemn mass at 
midnight, no private masses are to be celebrated without an apos- 
tolic privilege. (S.R.C. of Sept. 18, 1781.) In the midnight mass 
proper holy communion is not to be distributed without a special 
apostolic indult. (S. R. C. of Feb. 16, 1781.) 

The first mass is celebrated after the nocturns, provided these 

celebration of the Stations in Rome, because older martyr feasts also were there 
celebrated, especially that of St. Anastasia, in whose honor the present existing 
church was built in the earliest days. The more recent explorers consider it the 
"Church of the Resurrection." Still it is most probable that, from the earliest days, 
the custom originated not to celebrate at those martyr-stations the mass of the 
respective martyr on Christmas-day, but, on account of the high feast, one of the 
Christmas masses which they possessed. The stations, however, of the martyrs' 
churches were retained. Thus the martyr's feast gradually receded, and there 
developed a triple Christmas-statio, of which the second is still, unto this very day, 
celebrated in the church of St. Anastasia in Rome, with a commemoration in the 
second Christmas mass of the Saint, of which the entire Roman rite — against all 
customary rules — still makes mention with an oration. This threefold Roman 
statio became then the type of the triple mass of the feast in all the principal churches 
and, finally, the privilege of the celebration of a triple mass by all priests. However, 
we must not here overlook an inner ideal reason. In the old offices Christmas is 
designated as the plenitudo divini coitus, again, as the primal beginning of the sacri- 
fice, since in the Incarnation and the nativity of Christ there was already given, in 
its germ: the sacrifice of Christ and the continuation thereof. The Leonianum says 
very beautifully (Probst, Aelteste roemische Sacramentarien, Muenster, 1852, 
p. 141) : Sacrificium celebrantes quo nobis ipsius sacrificii sunt nota primordia (n. 6 
or 2) (see Secreta of the first Sunday of Advent). Thus, the feast of the birth of 
Christ was formed also into a feast of the birth of the holy sacrifice of the mass. 
And it was natural, as it was customary not to celebrate the sacrifice on Good-Friday, 
to elevate and to augment its celebration on this day, especially since an exterior 
inducement (the above-mentioned simultaneously celebrated feasts of the martyrs) 
had already given occasion, from another side, for this development. What had 
thus been created was fixed by the Sacramentarium Gregorianum which took notice 
in the mass formularies of the symbolical thoughts of the trinal celebration which 
had already, in a manner, formed itself so that the well-known explanations of the 
medieval liturgists may even today be used, non sine jundamento in re, provided 
they are not considered too onesidedly nor too exclusively. Science cannot raise a 
serious objection against this. For the better comprehension of this and similar 
excursus, which indirectly are of considerable importance to the homilist, it might 
not be amiss to insert here a short review of the sacramentaries in general. 

The " Sacramentaria" are old liturgical books containing the rites of the mass and of 



214 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

are said, i.e., after the Te Deutn and the oration. After the 
end of this mass the Lauds are chanted. The second solemn 
mass is celebrated at the dawn of day, sub aurora, and follows 
prime. The third principal mass is celebrated after full day- 
light. Compare with these liturgical laws the above and the 
below sketched trend of thoughts of the nocturns and the three 
masses. 

2. The homiletic significance of the threefold celebration of mass. 
The idea of the threefold birth of Christ, born from all eternity, of 
the Father, born in time of Mary, and born in the hearts of the 
Christians at all times, this idea controls, doubtlessly, in some 
manner, the threefold celebration of the mass. In each mass the 
three thoughts are really expressed, but the one or the other pre- 

certain sacraments. In the beginning the liber sacramentorum was small, since the 
mass was always the same, without any influence of the ecclesiastical year. Damasus 
(366-384) was the first to permit the influence of the ecclesiastical year upon the 
mass. From Damasus to and with Leo I (440-461), arose the contents of the oldest 
" Leonianum" sacramentary, which is a private collection of the rites of masses of the 
fifth century, from Damasus to Leo I. The second oldest sacramentary is the so-called 
Gelasianum. The present Gelasianum published by Tommasi in 1681, contains 
indeed a very strong nucleus derived from Gelasius I (492-496), for old and trust- 
worthy authors ascribe to this Pope a real volumen sacramentarum. Gelasian parts 
are likewise, undoubtedly, contained in the so-called Gerbert sacramentary, the 
prayer of which, marked Gelasian, originated in St. Gall, when holy mass was cele- 
brated, even prior to Gregory I, according to a pre-Gregorian sacramentary. And 
so, likewise, does the recently discovered Menard sacramentary, published in 1642, 
denote Gelasian characteristics and is most probably a Gregorian Gelasianum. The 
Gelasianum and the gelasiana in general, denote a much greater influence of the 
ecclesiastical year upon the liturgy of the mass than do the Leonianum or even 
the Damasian masses. The third characteristic sacramentary is the Gregorianum, which 
in its principal parts is traced back to Gregory the Great (590-604), the reformer and 
founder of the present missal. Gregory II (705-731) supplied the Thursday fast-day 
masses, which are wanting in the Gregorianum, from the Gelasianum, but he is not 
the author of the Gregorianum. The Gregorianum established a full and regular 
influence of the ecclesiastical year upon the mass. The Gregorianum, primarily 
only destined for Rome, became celebrated through its introduction into the Fran- 
conian empire by Charlemagne. We possess the Gregorian only in a form of a tran- 
scribed and transformed copy of the copy which Hadrian I had sent, for the reason 
just mentioned, to Charles who had begged for it, in the years between 784-791. 
The sacramentaries of the British church were pre-Gregorian and Gregorian, mixed 
with some particular national elements. Entirely independent are the pronounced 
Gallican. A special group is formed by the Ambrosian and the Mozarabic. The 
Orient displays an entirely different development. Since the Gregorian the develop- 
ment of the Missale plenum began through the collection of all the books necessary 
for the celebration of- mass. The entire process of the creation of the Sacramen- 
taria denotes the highest, interesting, and constantly increasing influence of the 
ecclesiastical year. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 215 



dominates. Based upon the formularies of the masses, and espe- 
cially upon the Gospels, we may advance the following explanation, 
which does not in the least come into conflict with the historical 
creation of the celebration. 

(a) The first nocturnal mass. It celebrates pre-eminently the 
temporal birth of Christ in Bethlehem. Compare herewith the Gos- 
pel of Luke, c. 2 : the birth of Christ and the announcement by the 
angels, also the splendid epistle taken from the letter to Titus, c. 2 : 
apparuit gratia Salvatoris nostri omnibus hominibus. The Introit 
does not oppose this conception. The Child born in time is really 
God's eternal Son and the King of the universe: Dominus dixit ad 
me, filius mens es tu, ego hodie genui te. 

(b) The second (early) mass. It celebrates the birth of Christ in 
the hearts of Christians. This is evident from the Gospel of Luke, c. 2. 
At the angels' command the shepherds seek the Saviour in the 
crib. They find Him and make Him the King of their hearts. 
This is done — in the highest sense — by Mary and also by Joseph. 
According to their examples the Christians visit the Saviour and 
receive Him into their hearts. The epistle, taken from the letter 
to Titus, c. 3., follows this idea in its practical consequences: Appa- 
ruit benignitas et humanitas Salvatoris nostri Dei . . . salvos nos 
fecit per lavacrum regenerationis et renovationis Spiritus Sancti, quern 
effudit in nos abunde per Jesum Christum Salvatorem nostrum. This 
is precisely the sacramental regeneration of Christ in our hearts 
and our regeneration through the Christmas sacraments and 
masses. 

Christmas is the birthday of all the sacraments and of the 
center of the same — the holy Sacrifice. (See above, the liturgy 
of the trinal celebration.) 

(c) The (third) mass of the day. It celebrates the eternal 
birth from the Father, i.e., the Christ Infant born to us is the 
Son of God: venite adoremus. Only this Son of God, Who is 
at the same time the Son of Man, can and will redeem us. 
(See oratio.) 

Therefore there is announced: 

(a) By the Introit — the birth of Christ. 

(/3) By the Epistle — solemnly the divinity of Christ, accord- 
ing to Heb., c. 1. 

(y) By the Gospel — still more solemnly, the entire doctrine 
of the divinity of Christ: in principio erat verbum, John 1. 



216 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(S) By the last Gospel — the adoration of the divinity of 
Christ by the Magi. 

C. Themes. Homiletic ways through liturgy to life. 

The just mentioned brief sketches of the Christmas liturgy are 
calculated to furnish, at the same time, to the preacher — with pen in 
hand — richness for many years to come through a searching medita- 
tion upon the texts and a garnered exegetical collection of matter. We 
will confine ourselves here to a few homiletic hints. 

I. Homilies on the Gospels. The two first Gospels, separately or 
jointly, invite to homilies on the feast, by which the people may be led 
fully and completely into the spirit of the feast of Christmas. The 
first volume of the "Life of Jesus, " by Dr. Grimm, the "Life of Jesus," 
by Father Meschler, are more recent books of meditation and com- 
mentaries on the Gospels, also the Christmas sermons by Eberhard, 
Foerster, and Sailer, which create a great stimulation and furnish much 
material for an exegetical treatment. 

II. Dogmatic-moral sermons on the Epistles. The Epistles of the 
first and the second mass may easily be converted into thematic homilies 
or into a foundation of dogmatic-moral feastday sermons. Thus, f.i., 
in close connection with the Epistle of the first mass, what the Christ- 
Child did for us, and what we should do for the Christ-Child, might readily 
be contemplated. 

i. What the Christ-Child did for us. What does the Christ-Child 
do for us? Apparuit gratia Salvatoris nostri Dei omnibus hominibus . . . 
qui dedit senetipsum ut nos redimeret ab omni iniquitate et mundaret sibi 
populum acceptabilem. The Redeemer Himself is the greatest grace — 
the great gift of God to humanity. From Him emanates sanctifying grace, 
the grace of all the sacraments. How do we attain grace through the 
Redeemer? He redeems us from all unrighteousness. As God, He can 
and will do this. As man, He does it for us. Thus He cleanses all — 
because He is the Redeemer of all men, therefore, also your Redeemer. 
This is the act of the Infant Christ performed in the crib : plus est, quod 
pro nobis f actus est quam pro nobis passus est (Augustin). How easily 
these thoughts of the Epistle might be amplified and emphasized by the 
thoughts of the second and the third lesson of the first nocturn and by 
the lessons of the second nocturn and unfolded by the aid of a theological 
treatise de incarnatione et de nativitate Christi, into a logical and rhetorical 
well-arranged historical and dogmatic meditation on the action of Christ 
in the crib, possibly in connection with the two sub-points: The action 
of Christ (a short pithy description of the event according to the Gospels) , 
the gist of the action of Christ (development of the indicated dogmatic 
explanation in the full light of Christmas). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 217 



2. Our deed for the Christ-Infant. The Epistle of the first mass 
furnishes, likewise, for the development of this point, fruitful material 
which is already presented to us in an extraordinarily beautiful and 
pithy setting. But the preacher must descend from the principal moral 
conceptions to particulars and make a good selection therefrom, so that 
his sermon be not overburdened. Christ Himself teaches us from the 
crib what we are to do at Christmas: Erudiens nos: (a) ut abnegemus 
impietatem et saecularia desideria. We must die to sin. Our Christmas 
deed should be: A breaking with sin. He, of whom we have just read 
in the Epistle: Apparuit, ut redimeret nos ab omni iniquitate, also demands 
from us the destruction of sin, especially of mortal sin, through the 
reception of the sacraments during this holy Christmas time, through 
perfect contrition, through a constant combat with our characteristic 
fault (compare also the second lesson of the first nocturn). (b) Ut 
sobrie, juste, pie vivamus in saeculo. For Christ we must live: (a) pie. 
Pietas est promptitudo animi ad Dei cultum et famulatum. Our Christmas 
deed should be a perfect willingness, a sense of duty for service, for a 
divine service of the Christmas Infant. The preacher should apply this 
f.i., to the mass on Sunday, to the congregational divine service, to the 
evening prayer of the family. It might be better to enter into several 
such concrete thoughts rather than to dwell too long upon the general 
idea. Apparuit humanitas et benignitas Sahatoris nostri Dei: The Holy 
Ghost has written over the crib : Deus charitas est. The love of God is 
visible and tangible at Christmas: dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus per 
hunc in invisibilium amor em rapiamur (preface of Christmas). God is 
love. And love hath clothed itself into the most lovely form on earth: 
it appears before us as a Child. Who will not love a noble, pure child? 
But it is God Himself Who is before us — as a child. This must enrapture 
us (rapiamur), make us willing and always prepared to bring our service 
to God on Sundays, on Fridays, and on confession-days: ut pie vivamus: 
that we live truly and piously, indeed. (/?) sobrie. The son of God 
and of man in poverty and in solitude, admonishes us to a new act. 
Serve not your passions, nor worldly goods, nor pleasure. Be sober, i.e., 
govern yourself. Self-control is our act of Christmas. Have you a 
passion to sacrifice? or, to divest yourself of a predominant fault? Or, 
as father or mother, to instruct your children in noble Christian self- 
control by holy obedience? (y) Juste. The act of Christ is for all men: 
Apparuit gratia Dei Sahatoris nostri omnibus hominibus. Jesus performs 
His great acts for all your fellow-men, for all your neighbors. And you 
have nothing for your fellow-men! You understand nothing of the 
precept of Jesus : Render to every one his due ! — be just ! Every man 
is an independent creature of God. Never attack the rights of a fellow- 
man in life or in deed, in business or in dealings. Otherwise you attack 



218 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



God Himself. Render to every man his due, means also something else. 
Every man is a child of God, really and actually, or at least, in his voca- 
tion. In every fellow-man there is something of God — the immortal 
soul with sanctifying grace for which the Christ-Infant has accomplished 
His deeds. Therefore, love your fellow-man. You are not alone in the 
world. How important beneficence, pardon, almsgiving, and consola- 
tion appear at the crib: to a poor orphan, to an abandoned beggar, to 
one ashamed to beg! How manifold the ways the preacher could find, 
leading from liturgy to practical life? (Still, wise limitations should 
obtain in the various points, which should not all be developed in the 
same breadth; we simply wish here to indicate the rich field which exists 
in this line.) On the first Sunday of Advent the Church called out to 
us: Hora est de somno surgere, abjiciamus opera tenebrarum, induimini 
Dominum Jesum Christum ! Now deeds must follow. Today, on the 
feast of Christmas, in view of the act of Christ, the resolution should 
follow: ut pie, sobrie, et juste vivamus. Let the words of the Epistle of 
Christmas be verified: ut pie, et sobrie et juste vivamus, expectantes beatam 
spem et adventum gloriae magni Dei et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, — 
when the advent of eternity approaches, in the particular and the general 
judgment, and the eternal joys of Christmas await us. 

A corollary of similar themes. The rest of the Epistles may be 
treated in the same manner. The grand fundamental thoughts of the 
first two Epistles give stimulation for a selection of themes and proper 
divisions of other view-points, f.i., Apparuit Salvator (the person and the 
act) et gratia salvatoris (application of person and act by the grace of 
God), etc. 

The points sketched above in the second part of the exegesis of the 
Epistle: i. ut abnegemus, 2. ut pie, sobrie, juste vivamus, might also be 
treated independently, as moral sermons for Christmas, f.i. : Our resolu- 
tion at the crib. It would also be advantageous to begin each point with 
the person of the Infant Saviour and occasionally to descend to moral 
meditations : The Child destroys sin — abnegemus et nos. The Child 
glorifies God (the glorification of God through the incarnation and the 
birth of Christ: gloria in excelsis Deo), pie vivamus. The Child denies 
itself — sobrie vivamus et nos. The Child gives Himself to all — juste 
vivamus et nos: let us not be egoists, but Christians, giving every one his 
due and loving all. 

3. Dogmatic, moral, and especially panegyric feast-day sermons in 
connection with and in the spirit of the entire liturgy. The above homi- 
letic-liturgical sketches indicate to the preacher rich sources of feast-day 
thoughts, and they direct him to streams of holy emotions, which bubble 
forth from the depths of the mysteries (f.i., the offices). Even though 
the preacher may not desire to follow the existing textual sequences in 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 219 



an exegetic manner, still the liturgy enriches his freely sketched collection 
of material and ennobles his emotions in an unexpected manner. The 
comparison of the thoughts of liturgy with dogma proves itself singularly 
fruitful in such work (p. 210 sqq). 

4. The encyclical of Leo XIII, de Redemptore and Christmas sermons. 
A very excellent aid to make the Christmas thoughts very fruitful is the 
grand encyclical of Leo XIII, De Jesu Christo Redemptore, of Nov. 1, 
1901. For the purpose of making it more easy, we will add here a 
homiletic sketch thereof (compare the edition of Freiburg) . A homiletic 
sketch of the encyclical de Jesu Christo Redemptore: Introit: Renovatae in 
Jesu vitae signa: multitudo Romam peregrinantium, multitudo Christum 
praedicantium. Pro Christo u major a conari." I. Pars. Jesus Christus 
Redemptor. Ignorantia Christi. Scientia Christi, qui est, Dei virtus et 
sapientia. De Christo " multa nota nec tamen meditata nec vulgo cogitata." 
Christus expectatus. Christus nobis datus. Jesus instaurator. Jesus 
Redemptor. Recordatio Christi " ' infinita jucunditas." Praesentia Christi 
11 perfecta suavitas." Separatio a Christo: extrema egestas. Finis hominis 
Deus. Via hominis Christus: docens, mandans, sanans, patiens nobis- 
cum. Natura sola sine Christo. Ergo, Jesus vivat inter no si II. Pars. 
Regnum Jesu Christi Redemptoris. Christus non solum naturalia et 
"legalia" adimplevit sed nova supernaturali creavit " quarum rerum caput 
est ecclesia: qui ecclesiam s per nit, Christum s per nit. 11 Christus et eccle- 
sia via: hominibus privatis et rebus publicis. In Ecclesia Christi Veritas 
pro nobis est: " captivitas" et u libertas. ,y Vita solus Deus. Vita Jesus 
Christus 11 ut nos peccatis mortui, justitiae vivamus," "ex fide." Inde 
sanatio privatorum et populorum! Alieni a Christo plerique magis ignoran- 
tia, quam voluntate improba. Ergo: " insculpere in animis notionem et 
prope imaginem Jesu litteris, sermone, in scholis puerilibus, in gymnasiis, 
in condone, in omni occasioned " Jura hominis multitudo satis audiit, 
audiat aliquando de juribus Dei." Ergo Christus regnet inter nos! 

Compare herewith, f.i., the liturgy of Christmas, of the nocturns,and 
of the three masses, also the feast of the Redemptoris Jesu of October 23. 

5. Proper liturgical Christmas sermons, in a more limited sense, 
might be delivered 

(a) as an explanation of the fundamental thought of the entire liturgy 
and of several parts of the liturgy, f.i., of the nocturns (p. 210). 

An example : As Whom do we salute Christ at Christmas? As the 
light of Christmas (first lesson of the first nocturn and the oration of 
the first mass), as the consolation of Christmas (second and third lessons 
of the first nocturn). An exegesis of the lessons will furnish the richest 
material for both thoughts. 

Or: How should we receive the Saviour at Christmas and during Christ- 
mas-day? (a) by adoring Him (Invitatorium of the matins: the in vita- 



2 20 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



tion of the shepherds in the Gospel : the antiphon of the Magnificat of 
the second vespers) . (b) by thanking Him (psalms of the third nocturn ; 
preface), (c) by weeping over our sins and arising from them (see the 
second and third lesson of the first nocturn) . (d) by rejoicing over the 
grace, 1 (compare the third lesson of the first nocturn and the first lesson 
of the second). Such points are suitable for longer explanations and, 
according to their number, also for short practical exhortations, f.i., for 
sermons for the early masses and for evening meditations. How appro- 
priate it would be to deliver, f.i., an evening sermon during Christmas- 
tide to a confraternity of the Sacred Heart, or at some other evening 
devotion, as a quietly summarizing and deeply conceived exegesis of 
antiphon of the Magnificat of the second vespers of Christmas. 

§ 13. {Continued). The Octave and the Octaves 
or Christmas 

1. The character of the octave. The octave of Christmas is 
highly privileged, like that of Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost. 
It was formed probably in an analogous manner with the oldest 
octaves of Easter, Pentecost and Epiphany. 2 During the octave 
no private masses and no masses de Requiem are permitted, 
except funeral masses. A peculiarity of the octave of Christmas, 
however, are the interspersed feasts of saints which partly also 
have octaves, a liturgical fact found in no other privileged octave, 
since these directly exclude the feasts of saints. 

2. The feasts of the saints during the octave. The interspersed 
feasts of the saints and their octaves are closely connected with 
Christmas itself. Whether or not all of their parts were connected 
with Christmas from the beginning is controverted; still, too little 
attention is paid to the question. 3 This liturgical relation was, 
at least, very early developed, and is, at present, beyond all doubt. 
Most probably several of the feasts mentioned had an inner rela- 
tion to Christmas from the time of their inception: for some of 

1 The Gloria of the mass might also be explained in the light of Christmas. The 
Christmas song of the Church, the gloria, what do we do during it? Meditate: 
Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus. A dogmatic, pragmatic explanation. 
Praise: Laudamus te. Our duty is — to praise God. To thank Him. Gratias agimus 
tibi, etc. Contrition: Agnus Dei filius Patris, qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe 
deprecationem nostram (also prayer of sorrow for sin before the crib). To amend 
— (quoniam Hi solus Sanctus — a resolution made for the ruler of our hearts!) 

2 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 109. 

3 Kellner's explanation is insufficient. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 221 



these feasts are very ancient. 1 Others were later brought into 
this relationship. 

The scientific proof for the relationship of these feasts to Christ- 
mas is contained in the following facts: 

(a) Several of the Fathers of the Church speak clearly and as a 
well-known fact of the relation of the feast of St. Stephen to Christ- 
mas. Thus, St. Gregory of Nyssa says: "How beautifully graces 
follow each other! How pleasantly joy is repeated! For behold, 
we receive feast upon feast, grace upon grace! Yesterday the 
Lord of the world nourished us, today we are fed by the follower 
of the Lord . . . the former, by assuming humanity for us, the 
latter, by putting off humanity for the sake of the former; the 
former, by descending for our sake from heaven, the latter by 
quitting the earth for the sake of the former." (Oratio I. de S. 
Stephano. Also the sermo S. Fulgentii, in the breviary.) 

The later Fathers find a similar relationship in the feast of 
St. John. The thought that the beloved disciple, who had rested 
upon the bosom of the Lord, should have his feast near to that 
of the Lord is indicated by the liturgy at least indirectly. 

The feast of the Holy Innocent Children belongs fittingly to 
the nearness of Christmas, for historical reasons. It is a mark of 
interest that the day of the Holy Innocents appears in the East, 
as long as the birthday of Christ was celebrated on Epiphany, 
often in connection with the feast of Epiphany, i.e. shortly after 
it. For the later feasts of St. Thomas of Canterbury and of St. 
Sylvester we refer to the explanations of later liturgists. 

(b) All of the feasts of the saints during the Christmas octave 
are now in the Proprium de tempore, where otherwise no feasts of 
saints are found. 

(c) The first part of the second vespers is of Christmas, only 
a capitulo of the feast of the day, — a rubrical arrangement found 
nowhere else in the liturgy. 

3. The importance of the feast and the relation to Christmas of 
the whole octave may be grouped as follows: 

(a) St. Stephen — the first martyr of Christ : the offering of 
life for Christ. (Martyr voluntate et op ere: Bernard^) 2 

1 According to some even older than Christmas (?). 

2 For the feast of St. Stephen we recommend especially to the preacher exegetic 
or thematic homilies on the lessons taken from the Acts, of the first nocturn and on 
the Epistle. They belong to the most splendid parts of Holy Scripture. Besides, 



222 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(b) St. John — the beloved disciple of Christ: an oblation of 
love for Christ — Doctor ecclesiae on the Incarnation. (Martyr 
voluntate non op ere: Bernard?) 1 

(c) The Holy Innocent Children: An offering of penance and of 
innocence at the same time — for Christ. The feast has a double 
character : Sorrowing with the mothers : Rachel plorans filios suos 
et noluit consolari: — violet color, no Gloria nor Te Deum nor alle- 
luja, except on Sundays; — and rejoicing over the saving of the 
children — for heaven. This feast appears already, with that of 
St. John, in the leonian sacramentary and in the Carthaginian 

the liturgy comprises the following themes: I. Christ for Stephen (for us), Stephen 
(we) for Christ. II. Divine love (Christmas) a return of human love (Stephen and 
we) for Christ. III. What did Christ? What did Stephen? IV. The first martyr 
of Christ: a character sketch with an application to modern times. V. The first 
gift and the first precept of Christ — faith (shown through dogma, f .i. Trid. Sess. 
VI, 6, through the school of faith, in the crib and in the life of Jesus, of St. Stephen 
and of the liturgy). VI. The grand precept at the crib: Stephen's love of God and 
of man, with parallels taken from Christmas. VII. True humaneness, (a) in Christ : 
apparuit humanitas et benignitas Salvatoris nostri Dei. (b) In Stephen: he loves his 
fellow-men, he teaches his fellow-men by his burning speech and his character, he par- 
dons his fellow-men (according to the Acts). VIII. Christ desires not only men, but 
Christians and men: (a) pleni fide, inwardly and in outward profession (antithesis: 
Principles of the world: a want of principles), (b) pleni gratia et Spiritu sancto, 
i.e., men who, through grace, possess the second, supernatural life, who bear and 
develop within themselves the supernatural grain of virtue and of character, — men 
who are active, through the Holy Ghost, for that which is noble, good, and super- 
natural in the Church and in the world and who are always prepared. Quicunque 
Spiritu Dei aguntur, ii sunt filii Dei (Rom. 8: 14). All this may be shown through a 
character sketch of Stephen by way of apologetics in juxtaposition to autonomous 
morality, to the so-called religion of the righteousness of man. 

1 The feast of John and the feast of the Innocent Children may also fall on a 
Sunday. If so, they supplant the whole office. The Sunday is not even commem- 
orated. Dominica meat. Even the Gospel of the Sunday is omitted: not even 
read as the last Gospel. Whenever otherwise feasts of Saints fall on a Sunday — 
then the reading of the Sunday Gospel in the pulpit is liturgically and homiletically 
correct — if a special feast is not celebrated in choro. On the feasts just mentioned, 
however, the unique case of the complete exclusion of the liturgical Sunday celebra- 
tion obtains — precisely on account of the close relation of these feasts with the 
time of the ecclesiastical year. Therefore, the homilist should read the Gospel of 
the day in the pulpit and preach on these feasts. 

For the same reason we will add here some homiletic thoughts taken from the liturgy. 
Feast of St. John, I. Theme: The beloved disciple near the Saviour, in his fife and 
in his feast. 1. On account of his love. 2. On account of his virginity. II. Theme. 
What leads us near to the Saviour? 1. In life — love. 2. In every state of life and 
purity according to one's state of fife. III. Theme. The love of Christ — John's 
return of love (and ours). IV. Theme. Virginity and purity at the crib. Christ 
renounces all things — semetipsum exinanivit — but His eyes love to rest upon 
virginal souls — Mary, Joseph, John, the Shepherds, with corresponding explanations. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 223 



calendar. It possesses a splendid liturgy with thoughtful hymns 
by Prudentius. 1 

{d) The feast of St. Thomas: An offering of ecclesiastical fidelity 
to Christ. 

(e) St. Sylvester: An offering of fidelity to duties for Christ. 2 
(J) Sunday within the octave. The Sunday brings a new thought : 
Decision for or against Christ. 

(a) The Saviour — the source of our justification. (See 
Epistle to Gal., c. 4.) 

The Saviour — the source and type of our progress. (See 
end of the Gospel.) 

(y) The Saviour a sign to be contradicted. (Principal subject 
of the Gospel.) 

(g) The day of the octave of Christmas, Circumcisio Domini, 
New-year. Formerly the calends of January were a fast day, in 
opposition to the pagan excesses at the celebration of the feast of 
Januarius. Afterwards a feast-day developed in place of the fast- 
day. In many places three masses were celebrated: missa nativi- 
tatis, missa circumcisionis, missa Beatae Mariae Virginis. These 
three thoughts of the feast of Christmas, the circumcision of Christ, 
and the honor of the Blessed Mother of God at the crib permeate 
the office even today. The fundamental character thereof is a 
sort of a contemplation at the crib, a concentration and a repetition 
of the Christmas thought. But amongst the Christmas thoughts 
there is a new mystery: the circumcision of Christ. The Christ- 
Child appears here for the first time as an oblation for us. The 
feast may also be considered as the entrance into the new civil 
year, in the name and with the blood of Jesus. We enter into the 
new year: 

(a) By standing quietly at the gates of the new year, before 
the divine Infant lying on the lap of His Mother, saluting and 
adoring Jesus. 

1 The Innocent Children. I. Homily on the Gospel (very grateful). II. The 
flower of the root of Jesse amongst the first martyrs — flowers — the Lamb of God 
amongst the little lambs (hymn). III. Gifts of the Christ-child. 1. Baptism of 
blood, the innocent children. 2. Baptism of water (compare the Epistle of the second 
mass of Christmas). 3. Baptism of desire (perfect contrition renews the fruits of 
baptism, confession does so still more). (An exhortation to join the society of 
the Holy Childhood of Jesus.) IV. Sorrow of Mother Church (Rachel) over her 
children, who — through mortal sin and impurity "are no more," p. 805. 

2 Other conceptions: fulness of faith (Stephen), fulness of love (John), Innocence 
of Children (Holy Innocent), Duty to Church, duty to vocation at the crib. 



224 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(fi) By rising from our sins, reconciled through the blood of 
Jesus — apparuit gratia Dei Salvatoris nostri qui dedit semetipsum 
pro nobis ut nos redimeret ab omni peccato (Epistle) — and : 

(y) By entering in the name of Jesus, i.e., with a good inten- 
tion upon the New Year. 

Rich sources of thoughts for the New Year and Christmas are 
also contained in the antiphons of Lauds. 

The Epistle offers, as it were, the New Year's salutation of the 
Church, and is adapted for a thematic homily at the entrance of 
the New Year. (See p. 216-221.) 

(h) The following days are the days of the octaves of St. Stephen, 
of St. John, and of the Holy Innocents. The festive bells of Christ- 
mas are hushed, as it were, but only to usher in on the fifth of 
January, in a solemn manner, the solemn feast of Epiphany. "Be- 
tween the birth of the Lord and Epiphany there occur daily solem- 
nities." (Second council of Tours, 567.) 

(i) The vigil of Epiphany (January 5) looks backwards in its 
liturgy. It is a renewed collection of the thoughts of Christmas. 
The Introit enters into the quietude of Christmas. The Gospel, 
in looking backwards and summarising, gives an account of the 
termination of the first chapter of the history of the childhood of 
Jesus. The Child Jesus lives. It returns home from Egypt. 
Providence conceals it in the solitude of Nazareth : ut adimpleretur 
quod dictum est per prophetas: quoniam Nazaraeus vocabitur. 

No prophet had proclaimed, in barren words, that the Saviour 
would come forth from Nazareth. But the prophets call Him a 
small green twig (nezer), that will shoot forth from the root of 
David. Is it not a matter of disposition rather than of chance, 
when even the name of the town of Nazareth is derived from the 
stem of " Nezer" as from its verbal root? When the Saviour shall 
appear as a plain Nazarene, then His name and His title will point 
to His dwelling place — Nazareth, but also to the mysterious 
prophecy of the prophet, which designates Him as "nezer," as a 
sprouting tiny twig, which will develop into a splendid tree. (Isa. 
11: 1.) 1 Thus the Infant of Christmas grew in the quietude of 
Nazareth — He has performed His first act for us: He will con- 
tinue to reveal Himself as the Son of God and of man. But we 
also, the brethren of this Infant, should grow in solitude, in spite 
of all persecution and difficulty. This is described by the Epistle 
1 Grimm, Leben Jesu, vol. I, p. 395 fL 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 225 



of the day (Gal. 4) : Misit Deus filium suum . . . ut (nos) redi- 
meret, ut adoptionem filiorum Dei reciperemus. Quoniam autem 
estis filii, misit Deus Spiritum Filii sui in cor da vestra clamantem : 
Abba, Pater. When we had become sons of God, brethren of 
Christ — did our acts for Christ, our Christmas resolutions, grow? 
Have we grown greater inwardly, in the eyes of the Infant Christ? 

The vigil of Epiphany, therefore, is adapted for a look back- 
wards into Christ's act of Christmas and into our own — into the 
birth of Christ and our regeneration. (Compare, below, a cycle of 
themes after Epiphany, p. 245.) 

We have given this vigil a greater attention, because its liturgy 
is incomprehensible to many. We are astonished that the Gospel 
narrates the return from Egypt, whereas on the following day only, 
for which the vigil is a preparation, the Wise Men appear from 
the East. The unique vigil, which may occur on a Sunday and 
supplant the Sunday liturgy as a festive vigil — is, as already 
remarked, precisely a look backwards into the first terminating 
cycle of the feasts of Christmas. 

With Epiphany a second solemn circle of Christmas-tide begins. 
The octaves of St. Stephen, of St. John, and of the Holy Innocents 
take the place also of a concurring Sunday. Therefore, it is well 
to select an appropriate sermon mainly from the domain of their 
festive thoughts. 

§ 14. Epiphania Domini 

The acme and the termination of the solemnity of Christmas is 
the Epiphania Domini — the sixth of January: the feast of the mani- 
festation of the Lord, also called, though not happily, the feast of 
the Three Kings. It is one of the solemn feasts of the Lord, it 
has a vigil which terminates the closer time of Christmas (see 
§ 13, i.) and introduces Epiphany with joy {sine jejunio), and, in 
addition thereto, an after celebration by means of its privileged 
octave, and in the following Sundays and weeks unto Septuagesima. 

A. Historical Remarks 

I. The East. According to Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 
1, 21, the gnostic Basilidians celebrated this feast in addition to 
the feast of the nativity of the Lord (?) as early as the second or 
in the beginning of the third century. Clement reports a quarrel 
which arose between the orthodox Christians and the Basilidians, 



226 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



concerning the natal day of the Lord (sixth or tenth of January). 
In connection with these facts Baumer says in his excellent his- 
tory of the breviary: "Soon the Church herself was compelled to 
ordain a celebration in order to check the machinations of the 
heretics." Other researchers are of the opinion that the feast was 
originally brought from Jerusalem to the orthodox Christians. 
John of Nice, a later writer and one whose credibility is attacked, 
whom we have already mentioned above in the history of Christ- 
mas, traces the origin of the feast back to the disciples of John. 
Origen does not mention this feast in the enumeration of the Christ- 
mas feast-days, c. Cels. VIII, 72. But shortly thereafter there 
appears among the writings of Hippolyte a sermon (as ra ayta Oeo- 
(jyaveia). A circumstantial description of the solemnity of Epiphany 
was delivered to us by the Gallic pilgrim of Bordeaux (Sylvia Pere- 
grina) from Jerusalem, where she assisted at the celebration and 
the procession to Bethlehem, one year before the death of Cyril 
(385). Though the beginning of the description of the feast, with 
the designation of the feast-day, is wanting in the traditional text, 
still the context in which the Epiphania is mentioned as the last 
preceding feast removes every reasonable doubt. (Compare p. 219: 
4 and 5.) The Syrians also knew the day very early, under 
the name denho = Oriens (Luke 1: 78). 

In the course of the third and especially of the fourth century 
the solemnity of Epiphany, the feast of the manifestation of the 
Lord as God and Redeemer 1 appears everywhere in the Catholic 
East. The oriental Fathers of the Church celebrated on the sixth 
of January, the manifestation of the divine Redeemer at His birth 
to the Magi from the East, at the baptism, and at the first miracle 
of Cana. It was therefore the feast of the first revelation of God the 
Saviour. But the revelation of the divinity of Jesus was most prom- 
inent at the baptism in the Jordan. The light of this baptism and 
the divine light of our baptism appeared in the foreground of the 
solemnity. Therefore, a solemn blessing of water took place on 
Epiphany, or on its vigil, of which there is mention made by St. 
Chrysostom. The feast of the Epiphany was, in many ways, a 
grand baptismal day. We have a sermon of Gregory of Nyssa: 
(ets iv)v rjfjiepav ev <6 e^airTicrdrj 6 Kipios). One of the most ancient 

1 It was dedicated to the manifestation of the Son of God upon earth in general, 
whereby certain particular events of His life were especially commemorated, in which 
His divine Sonship loomed in particular splendor. (Kellner, Heortologie, p. in.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 227 



direct reports of the feast of Epiphany is contained in the acts of 
the martyrs of St. Philip, Bishop of Heraclea in Thracia (passio 
S. Philip pi episc. Heracleensis, c. 2; apud Ruinart: Acta Mar- 
tyrum). (These acts of martyrs were admittedly written by a 
contemporary.) Besides the celebration of the manifestation of 
the divinity of Christ at His baptism, we find, f.i., in the just men- 
tioned documents a second, a third, and a fourth thought of the 
feast, at times more pointedly, and again, less sharply pronounced : 
the manifestation of God to the Magi and at Cana: Epiphany was, 
therefore, the feast of the great manifestation of the divinity of 
the Lord. The pilgrim of Bordeaux celebrated, as has already 
been mentioned, on the sixth day of January, a birthday of the 
Lord jointly with this feast, which was enhanced by a solemn 
procession to Bethlehem. 1 

Ever since the East had accepted the feast of the birth of Christ 
(see the history of Christmas, p. 201 sqq.), the manifestation of 
the Lord to the Magi appeared more prominently, besides the 
feast of the baptism, at the celebration of Epiphany in the East. 
The celebration of the birthday of the Lord, to which a proper 
feast had been dedicated, completely separated itself from the 
idea of Epiphany. 

II. In the West. The celebration of Epiphany is scarcely 
traceable in the West before the council of Nice. When the East 
had accepted, from the West, the celebration of the feast of Christ- 
mas for the twenty-fifth of December, Rome and the West received 
reversely the feast of Epiphany from the East, if the same had 
not already been introduced, here and there, several decades before. 
We find, for instance, mention of the feast of Epiphany in Gall, 
in the year 360, in the history of Julian the Apostate, by Ammianus 
Marcellinus, rer. gest. 1, 21, c. 2, 5. It is also incorporated, as 
well known and taken for granted, in the third canon of the council 
of Saragossa. 

The principal intent of the feast in the West is the manifestation 
of the Lord as King to the Magi from the East and to all the nations 
of the earth. In connection herewith the manifestation of the 
Lord as God at His first public appearance at the baptism and at 
the first miracle of Cana are celebrated. Here and there the 
revelation of God at the multiplication of the bread (Pseudo- 
Augustinus, sermo 2gde tempore) and at the resuscitation of Lazarus 

1 See above p. 208. 



228 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(Durandus, Rationale divinorum officiorutn, I, 6, c. 16, n. 7, 8) are 
also mentioned. 

B. Liturgical Remarks 

The significance of the present Roman liturgy. The task remains 
to determine the significance and the character of the present feast 
of Epiphany in the Roman liturgy. The historical research has 
prepared the way for this. 

The real significance of the feast of Epiphany may be expressed 
in the words: The royal feast of Christ. (Compare the Introit of 
the feast : Ecce advenit Dominator Dominus et regnum in manu ejus 
et potestas et imperium.) 

Considered more closely, the feast of Epiphany is the royal 
feast of the Infant Jesus, who appears on this day as the Son of 
God and as King, and this before all nations and not merely to the 
Jews. (Compare the oration of the feast: Deus qui hodierna die 
Unigenitum gentibus Stella duce revelasti.) 

The grand solemnity is inspired by the thought: The Infant 
Jesus is the Saviour of the world, the King of the world, and the King 
of all nations. In connection with this the manifestation of the 
divinity and of the kingdom of Christ at the baptism in the Jordan 
and at the first miracle of Cana is celebrated. 

From these thoughts several names and descriptions of the 
feast of Epiphany may be derived, such as: "full Christmas' ' — 
"the Pentecost of Christmas" — "Supreme day." 

The Church honors the Infant-Christ on Epiphany as the God- 
King of all nations and of the universe, in the prophecies (1. 
nocturn), in its dogmatic significance (2. nocturn), in its actual 
manifestation (3. nocturn), in all its glory (in the rest of the lit- 
urgy). Epiphany is the grand development of the kingdom of Christ: 
the revelation of His essence and His attributes. The origin, the 
duration, the expansion, the power, the blessing, and the vicissi- 
tudes of His Kingdom are proclaimed. 

The liturgy also explains the mystical gifts of the Magi in 
relation to the development of the divine kingdom of Christ: incense 
to the Son of God, gold to the King, and myrrh to man. (Compare 
the ideas dispersed throughout the liturgy, especially in the anti- 
phons, the responsoria, and the homilies.) 

Viewed from the side of the faithful, the feast appears in the 
Psalms, in the antiphons of matins, in lauds, in vespers, and in 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 229 



the orations as a feast of the faith of all nations — as a feast of the 
joy of all nations (compare the 2. nocturn and Epistle), as the 
feast of the faithful adoration of all nations (see the Gospel and 
the Psalms), as the feast of the rising of the faith of all nations, 
as the feast of the offering of the faith of all nations (compare the 
Gospel and several of the Psalms, especially of the first nocturn). 

But we must become more familiar with this unique feast, 
and all its glory, for homiletic reasons. 

C. Homiletics 
EXCURSUS I. A MISUNDERSTOOD SOLEMNITY 
Epiphany and the Sermon 

1 . Epiphany — the manifestation of the Lord — is a solemnity 
that is misunderstood by the people, and, one is almost tempted to 
believe, by some of the clergy also. Here and there it is regarded as a 
feast of the saints. And yet it is counted with Christmas, Easter, and 
Pentecost among the highest feasts of the Church. The Child of Beth- 
lehem is solemnly invoked as the King of all nations and souls. The 
history of the feast, the highly privileged octave, the changed "Com- 
municantes," the wondrous jubilations which soar through the mass 
and the breviary like the surging waves of the ocean, all these indicate 
the highest kind of a feast. The pastor of souls might dwell during eight 
days in contemplation, in mass and the breviary, with the Wise Men of 
the East before the glorified abode of the King of Kings, and let the 
people perceive with him what a great joy flows through the Church dur- 
ing these days. "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." 
And yet some are even satisfied on this day to give, in the pulpit, a few 
far-fetched and oft-repeated general moralizing themes on the persever- 
ance of the Wise Men — on the virtue of perseverance in days of joy and 
of sorrow, etc., all of which are very good and practical thoughts — but 
they are much too little and too little brought into the light of the feast, 
and little or not at all illumined by the wonderful dogma of the mystery. 

2. The popularization of the solemnity. It is above all necessary 
to make the people conscious of the fact that this is a very solemn feast; 
this can be done through a solemn service, through the ornamentation, 
of the church, and especially through the sermon. " But, why again a 
solemn feast, so soon after Christmas?" some will possibly exclaim. 
But this very "so soon" is intended by the Church. We now and then 
forget that holy joy is a real fundamental power of religion. Examine, 
f.i., in a biblical concordance the words: gaudeo, exulto, laetor, gaudium, 
exultatio, laetitia, and kindred expressions. An immense stream of joy 



230 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



overflows the Scriptures and the liturgy. Compare, with this, the 
entire octave of Epiphany. And what do we read besides in the second 
nocturn of the feast of Epiphany? Gaudete in Domino, dilectissimi, 
— preaches Leo the Great — iterum dico, gaudete! quoniam brevi inter- 
vallo temp oris post solemnitatem nativitatis Christi, festivitas declarations 
ejus illuxit ! And again in the second nocturn of Feria IV of the octave 
(these lessons are, be it observed, real treasures for the preacher, there- 
fore, also to be recommended to be read before the feast as a preparation 
for the orator) Leo exclaims: Epiphaniae veneranda solemnitas dat 
per sever antiam gaudiorum. And he explains the intention of the Church, 
which permits the highest festive joy to last two weeks, in this wise : in 
the midst of the contiguous mysteries and sacraments of the two related 
feast-days, the power of joy and the ardor of faith do not diminish. It 
is for the purpose, he continues, of saving all men that Jesus, though 
still enclosed in a small town, yet today manifests Himself solemnly to 
the whole world. Herein Leo describes the great idea of the feast of 
Epiphany. Epiphany is a perfect Christmas: a Pentecost of Christmas 
for the whole world, Christmas for all nations, Christmas for the Jews 
and the pagans, Christmas for our pagan forefathers, and, therefore, 
Christmas for us, Christmas for all souls. Who appears? Jesus for all: 
The light of the faith of Jesus for all. The grace of Jesus for all: " God 
wills that all men be saved." But the hand of the Infant Jesus is laid 
upon all nations and men, and therefore upon you! The right of Jesus 
over all is proclaimed: Thou art mine, I have called thee by name! 
Thus speaks Jesus to every nation, to every man. Now we understand 
the supremely solemn Introit of the feast : ecce advenit Dominator Domi- 
nus et regnum in manu ejus ei potestas et imperium (Mai., c. 3). The sun 
of the divinity repeatedly breaks through the cloud of His infancy and 
humanity today, and floods the whole world and all the hearts of the 
world with its joyful light. We honor the Infant as King, as God, and 
as Redeemer of the world. In this spirit the lesson of the first nocturn 
should be read or meditated upon: Jerusalem, venit lumen tuum: The 
Infant Jesus appears with His light of faith and all nations gather around 
Him (II. lesson of 1 nocturn). "Sitientes, venite ad aquas." The 
Infant Jesus comes with the living water of His grace (I. lesson of 1. 
nocturn) and all nations flock to Him. Jesus is King in person and in 
office — King by faith and King by grace. Permit these thoughts of 
the Church to flow richly into the sermons of this feast-day and of this 
festal time, and the people will learn to understand whom they honor 
at Epiphany, and how they should honor the royal Infant Jesus with 
the Wise Men. We will strive to conceive the idea of Epiphany 
from a new point of view, in the interest of a necessary popularization 
of this text. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 231 



This will give us an occasion to say a few words in behalf of something 
that is forgotten, for the exegetic homily in general and for the exegetic 
homily of the feast. This mode of preaching — which follows the 
Gospel, sentence upon sentence, or at least section upon section, in rapid, 
richly-colored, popular and lovely exegesis (verbum tuum, Domine, super 
aurum et topazion) and only here and there interlaced with striking 
applications of a prolific brevity, in order to flow, at the end, into one 
surging and enlivening cataract, from which the water-giving streams of 
life emanate — this splendid manner of preaching has been designated 
by the unjust and demure name of low homily, and has been, here and 
there, thrown aside into a somewhat respectful corner, though it is pre- 
cisely one mode of the preacher's work worthy of the most active minds 
and of the most thorough contemplation. Farther on we shall speak 
more fully of this manner of preaching. Here we simply wished, in 
passing, to say a few words in its praise. 

EXCURSES II. EPIPHANY AND THE HOMILY OF THE FEAST 

The above given thoughts on Epiphany might be treated most 
appropriately in a homily on the Gospel of the feast. After a short 
festive introduction, which should lead directly into medias res, sentence 
after sentence of the Gospel might be explained in a simple and clear 
though festive and fervent manner, in order that the people might live, 
think, and make the journey of the kings and their holy thoughts and 
deeds. Very brief and striking and practical applications should be 
here and there interwoven. The homily, however, should hasten on to 
Jerusalem and to Bethlehem. But all this must be based upon a solid 
exegesis. Rich material may be found in Grimm's and Meschler's 
" Leben Jesu"; Holzammer, " Geschichte der Offenbarung " ; Knecht, 
" Biblil. Kommentar"; Lohmann, " Leben Jesu." How easily might 
the just mentioned short application en passant be interwoven. 

Perhaps this entire explanation of the Gospel, up to the arrival at 
Bethlehem, with a short and rapid application, lasted only a quarter of 
an hour. The homily has arrived at its central point, at its central 
application and, at the same time, at its final point. In this it dwells, 
according to the example of the great homilist, St. John Chrysostom, 
longer, during the entire remaining time of the fifteen or twenty minutes. 

That which, up to the present time, has really run like a latent 
electric current through the wires and conduits of the thoughts, which 
only here and there flared up into sparks of very brief applications, 
now, at the end, shines like a perfect and clear light. It is the thought 
of the Infant Jesus as King. The homily will rest lovingly with the star 
and the Wise Men before Jesus — the Infant-King. "And the Magi 
opened their treasures and offered Him gifts: gold, incense, and myrrh." 



232 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The homily, however, sees in these gifts mere roads to Jesus, according 
to the example of the Fathers. Like the kings it sees Jesus again and 
again. Now the entire dogma of the feast appears, and all things flow 
together into a few practical central applications. Gold is offered to a 
King. The Child is indeed a King. The angel and the star have 
heralded Him. He is God. He can say: / am the truth. Therefore, 
this Child has a right to our understanding. He is the Son of God, the 
first, infallible, and divine truth. The following theological ideas may 
be popularized: Deus est prima Veritas in cognoscendo et dicendo. . . . 
auctoritas ipsius Dei revelantis qui nec falli nec fallere potest. (Compare 
the Vat. Counc, Sess. III. c. 3). 

Our intellect was created for truth. God is truth. This Infant-God 
is truth. Therefore, this Infant is the King of our intellect. He pos- 
sesses not only some truth, but all truth. He is truth itself. This Infant 
has brought religion to us, the first and the highest truth. He speaks 
to us. He speaks to us through the Church. Every doctrine of faith 
is a doctrine that emanated from Him. Today the royal Infant stands 
before you and before all men of the earth. Will you believe? We 
answer cheerfully: Yes, I accept every point of doctrine, though I can- 
not grasp nor comprehend it. The entire holy religion, I cheerfully 
accept it. On Thy account, Oh royal Child, I accept it. Thou movest 
me thereto. Thou art the truth. Thou art the King, for Thou canst 
not deceive nor be deceived by any one. Then explain this in regard to 
the one or other doctrine. After this describe faith, in powerful lines, as 
an illumination coming from God: Surge illuminare, Jerusalem (the 
soul), quia venit lumen tuum — do this in every Gospel that is read, in 
every sentence of the catechism. Remind the people that all nations 
obtain this light of illumination with the Wise Men of the East: Leva 
in circuito oculos tuos . . . filii tui de longe venient . . . et ambulabunt 
gentes in lumine tuo . . . in Thy light of faith, Oh Infant Jesus, in thy 
light, Oh Jerusa]em, Oh Holy Church! Aye, today the whole Catholic 
Church stands before the crib of the Lord with all her teachers of faith, 
with all her preachers, with all her missionaries. At the word of the 
Infant Jesus she says (with the Apostle Paul) : in captivitatem redigo 
omnem intellectum in obsequium Christi. I will bring into captivity every 
understanding unto the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10: 5). Is it 
something undignified to submit the intellect to truth? To bow before 
infallible truth? This is the highest duty, the highest honor of man and 
of humanity. There is no question here of an exhaustive sermon on faith. 
But solely to show that the Infant Jesus has a right to our intellect — 
the first perfect royal right. It is a question of showing the motive of 
faith in this light. It is a question of showing that all doctrines of faith 
are to be received, not upon personal selection, but for the sake of the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 233 



King of truth. This will awaken mightily an interest in faith, in our 
modern times, and in missions. Your gold, that is, the best that you 
have, your intellect, submit to this Child, submit your intelligence cheer- 
fully to the Catholic faith and be anxious that others do likewise. 
Have faith! 

In like manner explain the offering of incense. It ascends to the 
Child as to the Almighty God, the King of creation. Here it is also of 
importance to announce simply, in striking words, the rights of this Child 
based on creation (see Introitus). The practical application is: adoration. 
The Wise Men offered incense, fell upon their knees and adored Him. 
It is of eminent importance to move the people now and then in the 
sermon to a full act of adoration in the following consecration. Wherein 
does the substance of religion, of the honor of God consist? Precisely 
in the acknowledgment of the infinite, immeasurable height of the royal 
and absolute majesty of God and of our own complete and general 
dependence upon God. Lehmkuhl says very aptly (Thel. moral. 1. 336) : 
Adoratio est actus, qui pure et simpliciter et directe exercet quod religio 
postulat: videlicet actus, quern rationalis creatura ad Deum dirigit ad sig- 
nificandam seu manifestandam agnitionem summae divinae celsitudinis 
propriaeque omnimodae dependentiae. Alii religionis actus ut oratio, id 
etiam faciunt, sed non id solum aut non directe, immediate, simpliciter, 
pure: what an ascetic wisdom is contained in such unique and correct 
theological definition, if thoroughly examined! Therefore, lead the 
people, and especially the men, to kneel in spirit before the Infant Jesus 
on Epiphany. He appears today as the Lord of the stars, i.e., of the 
entire irrational creation, and as the Lord of men, of rational creation, 
as the almighty King of the universe: Your every fiber is His! Much 
is attained if the preacher can awaken the thought: I am a dependent 
creature, completely and entirely a dependant, of the Infant Jesus. My 
marvelously constructed eye and every ray of the sun that strikes it, 
every breath, every pulsation of the heart, every vein, every fiber in me, 
and, above all, my immortal soul, is totally, entirely, and completely 
God's work and property. The Infant Jesus has in all this an inalienable 
and complete right. Of myself I am nothing. In God I am all that I 
am. I am a creature, a nothing, a worm, and He is the Infinite, the 
Creator, the King, Who descended to me. Soul of man, behold in this 
Child the ruler, the Lord hath appeared, and in His hand is the kingdom 
of power and of glory! (cf. Introitus). I acknowledge this, I, lying in 
the dust, adore Thee with the Wise Men of the East! Too little effort 
is made to direct these thoughts, with all their power and irresistible 
force, like an overwhelming stream, into the soul. And yet, nothing 
is more necessary for the proud modern man than precisely this. The 
Apostle writes in the above quotation to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 10:4) 



234 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



these grand words: "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but 
mighty to God unto the pulling down of (human) fortifications (of 
pride), destroying (human) counsels, and every height that exalteth 
itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 
understanding (in faith) unto the obedience of Christ." Aye, if the 
preacher understood how to tear down, before the crib of the Infant- 
King, the fortifications of human pride, so that the people, that men, 
that the modern generation would kneel humbly and adoringly and lay 
all their gigantic forces before Jesus and lead them back to their root, 
to God, and Oh! how much, how infinitely much, would be attained! if 
we succeeded on Epiphany and during the time of Epiphany, to lead 
the congregation, during the Sunday services, to holy consecration in 
this disposition, a good basis for all that is good, a field of a rich super- 
natural harvest would be gained by this disposition of adoration, of 
unreserved honor for the little humble King of centuries. 

The bitter offering of myrrh points to the stiff ering Man-Christ. 
The bitter root of myrrh belongs to the spices with which corpses were 
embalmed. The Infant of the crib has already set His foot upon the 
way of the cross: the stable and the straw of the crib denote this plainly. 
In the letter to the Hebrews, 10: 5,7, the Holy Spirit revealed to us the 
first thought of the Infant Jesus: Ingrediens in mundum dicit: . . . 
corpus aptasti mihi. . . . Thou hast given me a body, a human nature 
— I come in place of the sacrifices of the Old law : ecce venio: In capite 
libri scriptum est de me, ut faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuaml At the be- 
ginning of the Book of Life (also the Book of books) it is written — Oh 
God! I come, as a sacrifice, a bloody sacrifice, to do Thy will from 
Bethlehem to Calvary. And as a fruit of this gigantic work, the labor 
of the blood of this Infant shall place before men and the nations pardon 
for sin — and the second life : sanctifying grace into their souls. He is 
the King of redemption and the King of grace. Here also a few words 
will suffice. The purpose is to proclaim the universal kingdom of Jesus. 
And for such a King we possess no offering of myrrh? i.e., not the sour, 
troublesome effort of duty as fathers and mothers, or be our vocation 
whatever it may, for Jesus' sake, as a divine service for Jesus? Would 
the offering of a really good confession be too much for such a King? A 
real Catholic Sunday too much or a Catholic Friday, a constantly re- 
newed declaration of war against a predominant fault or passion — would 
this be too much? Can you not reconcile yourself, in view of such a 
threefold King, with your lot, for He has a share therein? With such a 
disposition we will return with the Wise Men upon a different road. Thus 
we should fancy a homily of the feast, which would proclaim once more 
the full and glorious kingdom of Jesus for our age : All the exegeses and 
applications mentioned, etc., are merely rays of the one central light: 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 235 



Ecce advenit Dominator Dominus I The rapid journey with the Wise Men 
should merely awaken their thoughts and their sentiments gently, the 
standing with them silently before the Infant Jesus should conduct the 
hearers, astonished and excited, into His kingdom, in order that we 
believe, adore, and make noble efforts for Jesus — the King. All this 
might easily be expressed by dogmatic and moral sermons. But in that 
case these ought not to be mere abstract sermons on the kingdom of 
Christ, which would deflect from the mystery of the feast with the 
rapidity of a lightning train, for which the switchman had already ar- 
ranged a track of exit from the station. The golden threads of super- 
abundantly rich material of the Gospel and of the liturgy must also be 
worked into the sermon on Jesus as King of truth (gold), of creation 
(incense), and of grace (myrrh). 

§15. The Development of the Idea of Epiphany during the 
Octave and on the Sundays after Epiphany 

The entire development may be presented as follows, though 
other conceptions, at least in some particulars, might be considered. 

1. Dominica infra octavam 1 

Jesus as a youth — a King, i.e., the Son of God. Introit: in 
excelso throno vidi sedere virum, quern adorat multitudo angelorum. 
Who is this King? The Gospels answers: The twelve-year-old 
Jesus in the temple, Who reveals His divinity. (Luke 2.) Other 
conceptions: Jesus a King of youth. (A life of divine service of 
youth [substance of the Gospel], the quiet life of youth in the family 
[end of the Gospel].) Or: Jesus the King of our temples and of 
divine worship. Or: Jesus teaching the duties of divine worship: 
"Did you not know that I must be about the business of my 
Father?" This saying is — (a) a saying of Christ, but also (b) a 
saying of Christians. When explained for the Christian it con- 
tains the commandments and admonitions: to attend mass; to 
attend the Sunday services regularly; to attend the parochial 
services on Sundays with high mass and sermons as much as 
possible. (See p. 241, III.) 

2. Octava Epiphaniae 

Jesus as man — a King, i.e., Son of God. Compare the Gospel 
of the man Jesus Christ: et ego vidi: et testimonium perhibui quia 

1 See p. 239 sqq. Further explanations are supplied by supplementary numbers of 
the Homiletic Studies. 



236 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



hie est filius Dei. (Compare also the Introit and the Gospel.) 
The Son of God is proclaimed at His first appearance. 

3. The Second Sunday after Epiphany 

Jesus a King — i.e., Son of God in His first acts and miracles. 
(See Introit and end of the Gospel, John, c. 2 — Cana) (Manifes- 
tavit gloriam suam — The Epiphany of His divine glory.) Or: 
morally considered: Jesus — King of families. (See p. 242, IV.) 

4. The Third Sunday after Epiphany 

Jesus the sacramental King. If this Gospel is mystically 
explained in reference to baptism (penance) and the Holy Eucharist 
(the leper: volo mundare; the centurion of Capharnaum: Domine 
non sum dignus — then the conception is entirely justified) . But, 
if the literal sense is to be more emphasized, then Jesus appears 
as the King of our faith: royal homage to Him through faith 
(example of the centurion; see pp. 232-235) and of our life (Jesus, 
the divine and supreme Commander of heaven and earth: King 
in virtue of His law). 

Another conception of this Sunday shows us Jesus as the benev- 
olent King: in misery and in need: The Gospel proclaims His 
example, the Epistle, Rom., c. 12, our imitation in the spirit of 
this benevolence. 

5. The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany 

Jesus the King of the Church. The Gospel of the calming of 
the storm at sea represents the bark of Peter as a symbol of the 
Church. Jesus permits the storms, He demands faith and con- 
fidence in the time of storms, He calms the storms. The literal 
sense proclaims Jesus the King of our hope. Jesus appears in 
another conception as a royal legislator: He commands the storm 
of the sea (Gospel: Qualis est hie, quia venti et mare obediunt ei?) 
and the storms of hearts by the command of the love of neighbor. 
(Epistle: Rom., c. 13.) The storms of the ocean obey His word: 
Be calm (compare the description of the Gospel). The storms of 
divided humanity are silenced by a word from Christ: Diliges 
proximum tuum sicut teipsum. Non occides, non furaberis et si 
quod est aliud mandatum — in hoc verbo instauratur: diliges proxi- 
mum tuum sicut teipsum. (Ep. Rom. 13.) Homily, s. pp. 727-735. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 237 



6. The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany 

An objection of the world against the Kingdom of Christ. If 
Jesus Christ is King, whence the tares amongst the wheat? Christ 
is the King of the Church, in spite of all that is human and all 
that is evil in the members of the Church, which evil does not 
emanate from Him, which He tolerates in His long- suffering wis- 
dom and directs toward that which is good, but finally He conquers 
and punishes the evil (see Gospel) . But we, like the genuine wheat, 
should do Him homage through a Christian life (see the Epistle). 
This Sunday shows us also the royal government of God in history 
and in the plan of the world. 

The antithesis between the tares, which is sown by the enemy 
(Gospel) and the wheat, which Christ sows (Epistle), is very beau- 
tiful. This antithesis may be applied to all kinds of conditions, 
f.i., to the family: to sleeping parents, into whose field the enemy 
sows tares; to parents awake, who themselves sow the good seed. 
(Compare the splendid explanations of the Epistle on family life, 
Coloss., c. 3. This Epistle is also read on the feast of the Holy 
Family.) In the same train of thought more limited themes 
might be discovered, f.i.: How do parents sow the good seed 
through their example? (Homily on all points of the Epistle.) 
See below, " The feast of the family," p. 245 sqq., and pp. 243, 244. 

7. The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany 

The mystery of the Kingdom of Jesus in the Church. The mus- 
tard seed and the leaven: The power of Jesus from without (the 
mustard seed — the spreading of the kingdom) ; the power of 
Jesus from within (the leaven — the spirit, the inwardness, the 
interior progress of the kingdom of Christ in souls. (Compare 
Epistle.) If some of the Sundays, on account of the earlier occur- 
rence of Septuagesima, are transferred to the end of the ecclesias- 
tical year, then the Introits of these Sundays (adorate Deum omnes 
angeli), which express royal homage, are changed: this is plain proof 
that in conjunction with the Epiphany they contain a royal homage 
to the Saviour. 

How to obtain themes for sermons. The Sundays after Epiphany 
are well suited for a cycle of themes on the divinity of Christ or the 
kingdom of Christ. Compare, above all, the just mentioned funda- 



238 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



mental thoughts of the several Sundays (p. 236 sqq). Also the indicated 
accompanying thoughts might readily lead to one or the other cycle of 
themes. 

Finally, from the comparison of the Gospel with the Epistle, themes 
of a moral-ascetic nature might be evolved (compare, f.i., the remarks 
on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany). 

I. A cycle of homilies. Since the Gospel of the Sundays after 
Epiphany constantly reveal the divinity of Christ, from a new view-point, 
and of His kingdom, of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, though the 
central thought of the several Gospels is very similar, nevertheless a 
homiletic treatment would produce the richest variety. The preacher 
should paint the image of the Saviour in constantly new colors, but the 
faith and the love of Christ should increase in power and in intensity. 
The preacher should be mindful in these homilies of a clear and im- 
pressive and expressive central application. The cycle might move 
in the already above indicated fundamental thoughts: 

The course of the thoughts of the cycle: Christ the Son of God. The 
God-King as a Child (Epiphany), as a youth (Sunday of the octave), as 
man, at the first miracle (II. Sunday after Epiphany), as Redeemer, 
in His public acts (III. Sunday after Epiphany), Christ is God, God- 
King in His Church, in her storms (IV. Sunday after Epiphany), in spite 
of the tares, of the scandals, etc., within the Church herself (V. Sunday 
after Epiphany). He is God, the divine King by the divine power of 
the mustard seed and of the leaven from without and from within 
(VI. Sunday after Epiphany) . Such a cycle of homilies would be well 
adapted to promote a mightily joyous faith in the divine power of the 
Christ, and in His kingdom, the Holy Roman Catholic Church. 

II. A cycle of sermons. In close connection with the fundamental 
thoughts of the Sundays, a cycle of sermons or thematic homilies might 
be formed. 

(a) Christ, the King of youth. (I. Sunday) (See above n. 1: the 
Sunday within the octave of Ep.). 

(b) Christ, the King of families (II. Sunday) (the family, marriage 
in the kingdom of Christ). 

(c) Christ, the King of men (III. Sunday. The centurion of Ca- 
pharnaum) — royal homage by men : 

(a) of the intellect to God. (Faith of the centurion.) Compare 
the splendid acknowledgment of the supreme command of God by the 
soldier. At the command of the captain all are in line. What is this 
compared to the command of God, to a word of God ! Say but one word I 

Compare the explanations of this thought (pp. 232-235); 

(/?) of the heart of man. (The love of the centurion for his servant.) 

(d) The kingdom of Christ in His Church: 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(a) in spite of the storms (IV. Sunday). 

(/?) in spite of human frailty, faults, and scandals in the course of 
the history of the Church (V. Sunday). Apologetic treatment of the 
objections: there are bad Catholics: aye, even priests and bishops and 
popes have personally erred. 

(e) The royal power of Christ in the Church: 

(a) from without (the mustard seed). 

(fi) from within (the leaven). Compare also the Epistle I Thess., 
c. i. (VI. Sunday). 

III. Shorter cycles. Let us assume, f.i., that the vigil of Epiphany, 
which forms the completion of Christmas-tide, occurs on a Sunday, 
but Septuagesima on the III. Sunday after Epiphany, but that upon this 
very Sunday (pro foro) the feast of the Holy Family, in such a case a 
practical cycle of short sermons, in connection with the spirit of the 
liturgy, might be formed. 

We will fancy, for the following sketches, a somewhat cultured 
audience, which assembles for the early or the later sermons. We will 
develop one of these more fully, the rest we shall give in the form of 
very short sketches. 

I. The first Sunday of the year. The vigil of Epiphany. First, 
insert a short reminder of the vigil of Epiphany. Then pass on at once 
to the main thought. 

The greatest and the most sacred in our holy religion — the sun of 
the spirit and of the heart — is Christ Jesus. Everything in Catholi- 
cism is a ray of Christ. Therefore, let us today, in this most beautiful, 
most lovely Christmas-tide, and at the end of the first circle of Christ- 
mas, contemplate 

The Great Act of the Christ-Infant — the Act of a Child. 

(A) Which is the great act of this child? St. Augustin said: Plus 
est, quod pro nobis f actus est, quant pro nobis passus est. That He became 
man for us is more than that He died for us. The greatest act of God 
is the birth of the Son of God: from His birth came His life, His passion, 
and His death, His resurrection, His victory, His redemption and sal- 
vation. The birth of Jesus is indeed an act. 

Brethren, if you study the religion of the ancient cultured nations 
you will find that they all begin in nebulous darkness. Fables and 
fiction accompany them. Our holy religion is born in the midst of the 
fight and the sunshine of history. Christmas is no child's fable. What 
does the Gospel narrate? In the time when Caesar Augustus ordered 
the great enumeration of the people of the Roman empire, when Quirinius 
(for the first time) was governor of Syria and had the enumeration made 
there, Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem to be enrolled in the 
census — then it was that Christ was born in a stable. Every cultured 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



person knows when Augustus lived, who Quirinius was, which way the 
hand of history pointed, when the birth of Christ, the great divine drama, 
the indisputable fact of the birth of Christ was accomplished. The 
pagan historians write thereof. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus 
mentions Christ and His works most astonishingly. And the number of 
the years that you write, since New Year, on your letters, tells you : so 
many years are elapsed since the birth of Christ. The hand of the clock 
of the world points toward Christ. Have you thought of this? This 
is the act of that Child performed in the splendor of the light of the sun, 
in the very focal center of history. Nobody denies Christ completely. 
The reformer, the rationalist, and the socialist, all claim Him in part. 
Thus, Oh Catholic mother! write the whole of Christ into the souls of 
your children — and you all, write in the beginning of the book of your 
lives, at the New Year, the full and the complete name — Jesus Christ! 
Christ Jesus, my Lord and my God! Praised be Jesus Christ! 

Again, brethren, the birth of Christ is a fact. Why? A five-year- 
old child may cast a fire-brand into a barn, into a house, and all will go 
up in a flame. All is ablaze : to extinguish, to repair, the child is unable. 
Something similar had been done by humanity. It started the flame of 
sin, of the revolution against the infinite God. Ruination was everywhere 
ablaze. Could poor, weak man repair the infinite offense against God? 
Abundavit delictum (Rom. 5: 20): Sin super abounded. Sin overflowed 
all. No! man could no longer repair sin. What happened? The act 
of Christ was performed. 

The almighty God came upon the earth, He became man. As God 
He could do all things, repair all. But man must atone for sin. Yes, 
indeed! But behold: the Son of God became man. As man He wishes 
to take our place. As brother He wishes to repair all for us. As God 
He can do it, and He also wills it. Behold! the birth of Christ is a fact, 
the greatest fact of history, and now look into the eyes of the newly-born 
Child. What kind of a fact is this? The Apostle says: Apparuit 
humanitas et benignitas Salvatoreis Dei nostri (Titus 3: 4): it was an 
act of love and of benevolence of the Redeemer. Behold! here was the 
beautiful word: humaneness and benevolence born: apparuit humanitas 
Salvatoris. What do you find in the crib? God; God is love: " I have 
loved you with an eternal love," the Infant Jesus whispers to you. Yes, 
the Almighty of heaven, God descended amongst us. And God is good! 
One alone is good of and in Himself — God, says the Saviour (Luke 18: 19, 
Mark 10: 18). At Christmas we received the most lovely that God 
could offer, the goodness of God itself. What is most lovely upon earth? 
Is it not a child? Is there anything more lovely on earth than an inno- 
cent, pure child? And what do we find in the crib? A child! You 
find God there, the most lovely of heaven. And God has become a 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 241 



child; the most lovely on earth. Behold! religion comes as the sun of 
heavenly love, and in the lovely garb of terrestrial love — God — as a 
child. 

(B) And shall not we perform some act for Christ? Every part of 
the act of Christ is good, is love, is nobility. What should our act be? 
Surrounded and encircled by nobility, by the love of Christ: let us 
become noble men! noble Christians! Men, Christians without deceit, 
without envy, just, good, never common nor heartless — all this for 
Christ. The Apostle Paul describes more fully what it means to be 
noble men. The Church has repeatedly taught it during the Christmas- 
tide. 

Pie vivamus, he says! Let us live piously, i.e., nobly toward God. 
Behold the love of God, and observe your Sunday and your Friday, and 
from time to time a good confession-day, as a sacrifice for Him: all this 
is part of a noble man! 

Sobrie vivamus: live soberly. Let us control our passions. Let 
reason reign with Christ within us. And thus we will become noble 
men! Juste vivamus. Let us, for Christ's sake, give to every one his 
due. To the least, to him in tatters and rags, love is due. To your 
employees, to your servants, to your fellow-men proper respect. Above 
ail, respect the rights of every one. Let justice prevail within you, 
firm as a rock. Again, look at the crib of Christ, at its love, its divine 
nobility. Place, as a gift before the crib, during the continued sacrifice 
of the mass, the resolution that you will be noble men, noble Christians. 
The New Year ought to find us engaged in greater interior work — under 
all circumstances and conditions, we shall be nobler men and nobler 
Christians. Amen. 

II. Epiphany. The act of a king. Material for this is found above 
in excursus I and II: Epiphany, an unknown solemnity (p. 243 sqq. and 
245 sqq.). For a limited selection we recommend the following thoughts: 

(^4) What does the King bring us? Truth. The Child has become 
a King — a King of light. Describe the Child as King of truth for the 
nations and souls in the spirit of the Gospel and the liturgy, entirely 
according to the festive light of Epiphany. (See explanations p. 231.) 

(B) What will we offer the King? (Develop only one application.) 
We will offer Him gold, i.e., our intellect, faith. (See above excursus 
II, p. 246.) What does this mean? The entire application might be 
comprised within one explanation of the feast, of the several ideas of 
the definition of faith by the Vatican council. Fides est virtus super- 
naturalis (therefore not merely a human opinion or knowledge, but a 
heavenly gift of the Most Holy Trinity to our intelligence: "non caro 
et sanguis revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in coelis est"), qua aspirante 
et adjuvante gratia (a new confirmation of this thought), a Deo revelata 



242 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



vera esse credimus, non propter intrinsecam rerum veritatem naturali 
rationis lumine perspectam (we believe, f.i., the sacrament of the holy 
Eucharist, not because we have examined and scrutinized it — we do not 
believe doctrines of faith merely because they please us, or appeal to us; 
we may not, therefore, merely select what suits us) sed propter auctorita- 
tem ipsins Dei revelantis, qui nec falli nec fallere potest. (Show with all 
possible clearness and power of eloquence: Why we believe? and this 
again by mentioning some particular doctrine of faith. God is back of 
every doctrine of faith — the Infant-Christ the King of truth. He alone 
moves us to believe. (Compare the above thoughts, p. 232 sqq., of which 
one or the other may be developed, with a penetrating clarity, in this 
comprehensive short sermon.) 

The aim of the entire sermon should be but one: Here and now to 
excite a most perfect act of faith, in reference to the entire revelation, 
within all hearers, in order to make them inwardly conscious, now and 
forever, of what a mighty and grand act faith is. All this should be 
demonstrated as a gift of gold on the feast of Epiphany. The very best 
that we have, our noble and orthodox reason, should be this gift of gold. 
The exegesis of all other gifts should for the time be omitted, in order 
not to disturb the unity of the effect of preaching : aurum, credo! 

III. The Sunday within the octave of Epiphany. (Gospel: The 
twelve-year-old Jesus.) A saying of Christ and of the Christian. 

(A) The word of a child, the word of the Christmas Child. Christ 
appears today as a youth — and as God. Describe briefly and solemnly 
the manifestation of God in the temple — omit all other circumstances or 
barely touch upon them, and confine yourself to the divine revelation. 
The twelve-year-old Jesus speaks, interrogates, and answers in such a 
manner that all are astonished at His superhuman wisdom (compare 
above, Dominica infra octavam, p. 235). A Child is seated amongst the 
doctors. But the seat of the Child grows into an exalted throne (com- 
pare the Introit). Of all the wondrous speeches of Jesus but one word 
is transmitted, the word which escaped His lips when Mary and Joseph 
found Him: "Did you not know that I must be about the business of 
my Father? " The temple, the divine service is of the first importance to 
Him ! But this word of Christ should likewise be a word of the Christian. 

(B) A word of the Christian: "Know you not that I must be 
about the business of my Father?" What does this mean practically 
considered? 

(a) We should be in the house of the Father. The frequentation 
of the church is for us an honor. What does this mean: we are invited 
into the house of the Almighty Father. 

(b) We should be in the house of our brother Jesus Christ. There 
He is in the Most Adorable Sacrament — this is our joy. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 243 

(c) We should be regularly in the house of the Father and of our 
brother or mass on Sundays — this is our duty (impressive exhortation 
with a vivid instruction). 

(d) We should be as regularly as possible in the house of the Father, 
at the principal services according to the example of Christ. Describe 
the ideal of the parochial service with sermon and high mass. From 
this Catholic blood flows into the veins. This is our good fortune. Thus 
this Sunday is fully adapted to show us the ideal and cultivation of the 
life of divine service. All should be concentrated upon this one point: 
The theme should be eminently practical for the attendants at the 
early or the late mass. 

IV. The second Sunday after Epiphany. (Gospel: The wedding 
at Cana.) The act of a man. 

Introduction. Jesus is today among us with the public activity of 
a man. But at the beginning of His activity as a man He appears again 
as God (the miracle of Cana, end of the Gospel — see above Dominica 
II, post Epiphaniam, p. 235, n. 3). What does He do? He places His 
divine-human hand upon the family. We will contemplate Jesus and 
the foundation of the family. 

(^4) The family — a divine foundation. Explain the following thought 
briefly (compare also below: The family-feast): The family is the 
original cell of religion and morality. Let us look backward and forward. 
The family appears in Paradise as the first act, as the first foundation 
of God. In the Old Testament we find religion everywhere sheltered 
by the family, surrounded by the most touching family scenes. Upon 
the first pages of the New Testament appears the blameless family of 
Zachary and Elisabeth. Jesus comes. And what does He do? He 
conceals Himself for thirty years in a family. What is more beautiful 
and more exalted than the family of Nazareth? Jesus appears in public 
life. Where is He found first? In the midst of a family at the marriage 
of Cana — there He performs the first miracle : there He blesses the 
foundation of the family. Thus we are told by the Gospel of this day. 
But God does still more. Jesus elevates the foundation of the family 
to a sacrament and marriage, in a certain sense, is a continued sacrament. 
(A few short proofs of the doctrine of the Church.) To contract mar- 
riage is therefore something holy, divine — similar to receiving Holy 
Communion, to going to confession, to celebrating or hearing mass. A 
sacrament is a sign, a fact, at which the gigantic powers of the super- 
natural descend. Thus marriage is an indissoluble union of man and 
woman. Marriage is a great mystery — but I say : In Christ and in the 
Church, it is not merely a civil contract; it is a sacrament, an indissol- 
uble union between man and woman. The ideal natural marriage Christ 
has changed into a sacrament (see p. 247). What follows from this? 



244 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Christ proclaims to the world the divine idea of the family. From 
this follows again something most important for the contract of marriage 
and for marital life. Today we shall merely consider the first, very 
briefly. 

(B) The family — a foundation of man. Men contract marriage, 
though the adage is true: True marriages are founded in Heaven. 
Wherever there is a sacrament, there heaven is active. But men must 
co-operate, and nowhere more than in the formation of a family. What 
is courtship? If a good young man entertains an acquaintance with a 
noble and a pure daughter, with the knowledge and the consent of her 
parents — at least, never against the reasonable will of the parents — 
within the serious limits of respectability, and within a reasonably 
limited time, in order to ask himself before God and reason: Shall we 
establish a good, solid family — then this is a preparation for a sacrament. 
When you wish to receive Holy Communion you prepare yourself, do you 
not? You guard against sin. Why? Because, everyone will answer, 
I wish to approach worthily. If, therefore, the time of a good, noble 
courtship is the preparation for a sacrament, what follows? This: 
That the time of a courtship must not be a time of frivolity, much less 
a time of depravity, but a noble and holy time. You are therein on the 
way to the altar, to the sacrament. Ask yourself: What does the 
Church say? What does she command? What does she wish? (A 
short instruction on mixed marriages.) What does conscience say? 
Does conscience permit, during this time, the passing from pleasure to 
pleasure, from dance to dance? And whenever conscience permits 
recreation, a pleasure, how mightily, how forcibly is not its voice raised: 
Remain noble and pure! Is this not the only reasonable view? Think 
of it yourselves! Pray during mass today for the marriages to be con- 
tracted and those that have been contracted, and for the families of this 
congregation and country, that they be human and divine foundations 
at the same time, as was that of Cana. 

V. Septuagesima. Also the family-feast in foro. The act of Christ 
in the family (continuation). In the Gospel of this day — which 
turns toward Easter — the kingdom of God appears as a vineyard. 
Such a vineyard, above all, is the family. You parents are the laborers 
in the vineyard. Today is the solemn celebration — especially in the 
sermon of the family-feast. This looks back to Christmas; looking for- 
ward and gazing backward the family meets us again. Last Sunday 
reminded us of the foundation of the family. The feast of today of 
the family life. The Epistle of the family-feast describes the spirit 
of the family life in a marvelous manner, therefore our co-operation 
with the act of Christ: with the foundation and the consecration of 
the family. We can express it in two words: 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 245 



(A) To be of one heart. (The life of the spouses, of the members of 
the family according to the first part of the Epistle with practical appli- 
cations): Induite ergo . . . sicut electi Dei? sancti et dilecti (through 
the sacrament) viscera misericordiae (a heart full of mercy), supportantes 
invicem et donates vobismetipsis si quis adversus aliquem habet querelam: 
sicut et Dominus donavit vobis, ita et vos. (Having consideration for 
each other — pardoning and forgetting by the married couple, by 
sisters, brothers, etc.) What did Jesus not forgive and forget in your 
behalf? Super omnia autem haec caritatem habete, quod est vinculum 
perfectionis. The thoughtful, praying, laboring, and patient love sees 
everywhere around it immortal souls. What would not a wife do if 
she considered marriage in this sense, and for the sake of the soul of the 
husband she should strive to make all things easy, pleasant, and home- 
like for him. (Bring in some concrete touches.) 

(B) To be guided by wisdom. Verbum Christi habitet in vobis abundan- 
ter in omni sapientia (the second part of the Epistle). Begin at this 
word and descend rapidly to applications in regard to the education of 
children, to the educational wisdom which arises from religion, from the 
sermon, from a pious, sensible, and prudent sense. {Verbum Dei in omni 
sapiential Intersperse some concrete points of moment (compare 
Alban Stolz, Erziehungskunst and Das Menschengewaeschs) . Limit 
yourself, however, to a few points in which you believe the principles of 
education to be mostly violated. Compare also paragraph 16 on the 
family-feast. 

§ 16. The Final Feasts of Christmas-tide 

The two most lovely and significant final feasts of the entire 
Christmas-tide are: The feast of the family and the feast of the 
purification. 

I. The Family -Feast 

A. Sources for sermons and discourses on the family and on 
education. 

1. The liturgy of this feast, especially the lessons of the first 
nocturn, the responses, the antiphons, orations, and the mass, 
etc., are immensely rich in dogmatic, ascetic, and social ideas. 
(For the latter, compare especially the hymns.) 

2. The family-feast, in connection with the earlier Sundays 
and the usual reading of the matrimonial precepts, furnishes a 
rich occasion for a cycle of sermons on the family. We recommend 
for such sermons especially, Alban Stolz: " Erziehungskunst," a 
rich and too little consulted store of excellent ideas and hints on 



246 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



education. In discourses on education the preacher ought often 
to descend from ideal and dogmatic thoughts to the minutest 
details and disclose the hundred and more occasions of daily life, 
in which an educational influence in the Christian sense is possible 
or a matter of duty, or, at least, to be counselled. Compare, for 
instance, the real classical chapters in many aspects, of the second 
and the third part of Alban Stolz's work. A preacher who stands 
at the same time in vital relation with daily life, might here learn 
to descend from principles to direct practical and striking cases 
and applications, and to conceive, even the least, in the full light 
of religion. Herein consists the strength of sermons and discourses 
on education and educational duties, which is brought to bear 
upon the whole parish and upon educational and maternal societies, 
or, on similar occasions. An extensive moral theology might be 
consulted with profit in relation to corresponding points, f.i., Sailer, 
Hirscher, Probst, Linsenmann, Lehmkuhl, Miiller, Gopfert. We 
recommend likewise : Hug, of St. Gall : " Predigten iiber die Familie " 
— Hattler, S.J., "Ernste Worte an Eltern." Hattler: "Das Haus 
des Herzens Jesu" — Becker, S.J., "Die Pflichten der Eltern," also: 
"Die Pflichten der Kinder," etc. Clericus: Die 10 Gebote der 
Kindererziehung — Didon: "Marriage and the Family." The 
Rosary encycl. of Leo XIII, of 1893, furnishes a surprisingly beau- 
tiful ideal commentary on the liturgy. The preacher might also 
consult with profit particular parts of the encycl. "Rerum Nova- 
rum." Striking matter might also be gathered, most profitably, 
from the Moral Philosophy of Cathrein, and from similar works on 
the family and social questions, and also from pedagogical works of 
a somewhat elevated style. 

B. The fundamental ideas of the liturgy of the family-feast. There 
are two central ideas which permeate the whole liturgy. 

1. The dignity of the Christian family. We will endeavor to 
reduce this central idea to the following points : The family is fully 
and completely the work of God. The establishment of the family 
was God's first act in the history of man, a family was the first 
object of the divine care of souls. Within the family of Paradise 
God sheltered the original inheritance of the natural and the super- 
natural life. 

When all flesh had gone the way of perdition, God saved, through 
a pious family, a portion of the human race from the dreadful 
divine punishment for the future and for revelation. The floating 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 247 

ark is a higher symbol of the Christian family, which, amidst all 
the wild storms of time, is not upset nor submerged. 

Through the families of the Old Testament the course of the 
sun of God's revelation, of God's word to humanity passed 
on. Mysteriously the messianic gleam of light percolates and 
flashes through the genealogical trees of humanity and of Israel, 
until it looms gloriously as the Oriens ex alto — as "The rising sun 
from on high." How touching are the family histories of the 
Old Law. 

The first lines of the New Law describe (Luke 1) in inimitable 
beauty, upon the threshold of the Old and the New Testament, a 
family picture : Zachary and Elisabeth in the mountainous country 
of Juda — just and irreproachable before God, observing not only 
all great commandments, but even the smallest precepts of the 
Lord, with their joy and woe, with their supernatural greatness 
and human weakness, with their virtues and repentance, with their 
quiet and public life — whilst the eternal artist, divine wisdom, 
weaves all this into a splendid work of Providence, from the center 
of which the figure of "the greatest among those born of women" 
appears — the precursor of the Redeemer — "great before the Lord, 
of a family without reproach." What a great homiletic treasure 
might be evolved from these lines of the Gospel of St. Luke! 

And now the portals are opened (see the Introit of the mass of 
the feast of the Holy Family), and joyfully and with reverential 
awe we enter into the holy House of Nazareth. The New Testa- 
ment, the new creation, begins with a new Paradise and again 
with a family in Paradise — with the Holy Family. The greatest 
gift of the Blessed Trinity — the Redeemer, is sheltered in a family 
— that the pastor may know where he must first, by quiet and holy 
labor, awaken and shelter Christ and Christianity: in the families. 
In place of converting the various parts of the world and of filling 
them with doctrines and deeds and miracles, Jesus remains, during 
thirty years, within a family, and there delivers a thirty years' 
sermon by deed and example on the worth of the Christian family. 
But, the most lovely and exalted scene of this family life, where 
the human and the divine commingle, and all Christian principles 
are quasi born — the Church has placed, like a gem, as Gospel 
among the golden jewels of her festive liturgy for the family-feast: 
the narrative of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple. (See 
pp. 235 and 242.) 



248 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



And "the beginning of His miracles and of His public acts," 
the "first manifestation of His divine glory" — and also "the 
birth of the first faith" — we find again in the establishment of 
the family at Cana. (See John 2: 11.) Who is able to withstand 
this convincing sermon of Christ on the importance of the family? 

He then elevates the establishment of the family and family 
life to the dignity of a sacrament; He surrounds and fills the original 
cell of social life with divine forces and powers. 

Within the family the Church shelters " the spiritual descendancy 
and inheritance of Christ," the baptized children. The natural 
source of life — which is matrimony — and the supernatural foun- 
tain of the propagation of the life of Christ — holy orders, build 
up the Church. Sacerdotal action and family deeds are dependent 
upon each other. 

Is it, therefore, not proper that we should celebrate a special 
Holy Family feast — and that we possess a quiet society, without 
the least burden, which replants and refructifi.es, every year, Chris- 
tian family life? 

This society, so easily and simply organized, strives, according 
to the intention of the Holy Father, especially to bind families to 
their pastors, therefore the pastor, above all, should direct and 
foster this society with his co-laborers. Through sermons, and 
by means of private and family visits by the pastor, the Floly Family 
society ought to be recommended and it will gradually become an 
object of love. Two immediate objects should control it according 
to the intentions of the Holy Father: it should actually proclaim 
the importance of the pastoral care of souls and of the parish, — 
and family prayer, as the very soul of the family. Further objects 
extend over the entire Christian family life. We desire, in this 
regard, to draw special attention to the beautifully selected lessons 
of the feast and to the Epistle taken from the letter to the Colos- 
sians, which describe in magnificent manner the virtues and the 
quiet life of the Christian family, and to the social thoughts con- 
tained in the hymns. Whoever studies the office will call it a social 
one, a proclamation of the solution of the social question, through 
the liturgy — by means of the family. Let us also put, on this 
day, our great social pastoral desires into the intentions of our 
prayers. 

2. The spirit of family life. A classical description of a truly 
Christian family life is contained in the above-mentioned lessons 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 249 



of the breviary and in the Epistle to the Colossians. The Epistle 
is suited for a thematic homily on the feast. (Compare the hymns, 
also the homiletic exegeses at the end of the book.) 

Themes. I. Single sermons. Compare the above fundamental 
thoughts. Also the themes on the Sundays after Epiphany (p. 235 sqq., 
p. 258 sqq). 

II. Cycle of sermons. Besides the first cycle proposed in the pre- 
ceding paragraph we would recommend the following series of themes: 

(a) The dignity of the family. 

(b) The Holy Family. (Type. Compare the last chapters of the 
history of the youth of Jesus, in Meschler's Life of Jesus.) 

(c) The spirit of the family. (Imitation. Homily on the Epistle 
of the feast of the Holy Family : The life of the spouses and other mem- 
bers of the family.) 

(d) The duty of the family, education. 

Theme (a) The first labors in the vineyard of the family — the educa- 
tion of the children in the earliest and early youth (i-i2th year). (See 
Alban Stolz: Das M enschengewaechs . Remember, however, that Alban 
Stolz wrote an almanac and not a sermon.) 

Theme (ft) The later labors. The education of advanced youth. 
(Compare Alban Stolz, I.e., the works of Rolfus, Wetzel, Sailer. See 
above, p. 245.) 

II. The feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin 
Consult our explanations on p. 57 sqq. 

§ 17. The Course of the Paschal Time ■ 

The paschal time is the principal time of the ecclesiastical year, 
as Easter is the main feast, and all Sundays mere copy of Easter. 
The paschal time commemorates the opus redemptionis, the work 
proper of the redemption: the teaching, the suffering, and the 
risen Christ, but above all — Christi passio et resurrectio — Christ's 
redemption and its renewal in and among us. The moral and the 
ascetic focus is the crucifixion of the old man of sin, the resurrec- 
tion of a new man with Christ in the newness of life and of walking 
and of progressing in the newness of life. (Compare Rom., c. 6, 
and the Epistle of Holy Saturday and of Easter.) 

The sacramental focus of the ancient Easter celebration was 
baptism, the preceding, principal, and after celebration of which, 
even today, dominates the liturgy and Holy Communion — in our 



250 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



days especially the second baptism: the sacrament of penance 
and Holy Communion: Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. 

The gradually rising course of paschal time may be sketched 
as follows: 

1. Pre-Lent: from Septuagesima to Quinquagesima, respec- 
tively: Ash Wednesday. 

2. Lent proper, in the more narrow liturgical sense, within 
which: 

3. Passion-tide, and: 

4. Holy Week; then: 

5. Easter with its octave. 

6. The Sundays after Easter, or Eastertide. 

7. The Ascension of Christ and its octave. 
In a certain sense also: 

8. Pentecost, the fruit and the completion of Easter, the last 
gift of the risen Saviour at Easter-time. (See the preface and the 
rubric of the liturgy after nones of the Saturday of the week of 
Pentecost: exspirat tempus paschale.) 

§ 18. Historical Remarks Concerning the Pre-Lenten and the 

Lenten Time 

At present a preparation precedes Lent, which preparation begins 
with Septuagesima Sunday. Thus arose a seven weeks' preparation 
for Easter, which is called liturgically, according to its periods, Septua- 
gesima, Sexagesima, Quinquagesima, Quadragesima. The first three 
names are formed after the more ancient conceptions of Quadragesima 
— forty days' preparation for Easter — a forty days' fast — though 
they do not actually designate decades. The intervening Sundays 
are called Dominica in Septuagesima, in Sexagesima, in Quinqua- 
gesima, and Dominicae in Quadragesima. All of these words denote 
periods. 

The present liturgy, from Septuagesima to Easter, forms a grand 
whole, with extraordinarily interesting combinations and rich homiletic 
contents. 

But it was not always thus. The present liturgy is the result of a 
long historical development. We will describe here, in grand lines, this 
formation as a basis of our homiletic studies of the liturgy of Lent. 

I. How did the Oldest Fast-Days Originate? 

1. The idea of a forty days' preparation and Lent had its basis 
in the forty days of fast and of the prayer of our Lord in the desert. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



The present first Sunday of Lent points in the Gospel, and its entire 
liturgy, to this prototype and example. 

2. There are indications that the Christians of the most ancient 
times — with the exception of the weeks between Easter and Pentecost 
— fasted during the entire year on all Wednesdays and Fridays (in Rome 
from the very earliest times, also on Saturdays). 1 This custom, which 
became law in many churches, recalls the practise of the Jews at the 
time of Christ. In Luke 8:12, the Pharisee boasts: jejuno bis in sabbato. 
The most profound reason for the Christian fast on Fridays, and for the 
liturgy connected therewith, is a commemoration of the Passion and 
death of Christ on these week days. The average fast on Wednesdays 
has a similar reason (the betrayal of Judas on the 13 th of Nisan; see 
Kellner, Heortologie, pp. 36 and 65). The custom of the fast on Satur- 
days, in the West, is a continuation of the fast of Good Friday: The 
Lord, the Bridegroom, is taken from His own, His body rests in the 
grave. Therefore the Christians are sorrowing and fasting. (Matt. 9:15. 
Luke 5:33.) 

3. The more distinctly these weekly fasts were observed, the shorter 
were the more ancient customary fasts before Easter. But the more 
the fast before Easter was regulated, the quicker did the more frequent 
weekly fast disappear in practise. 

4. For the celebration of the Passion of Christ there was 
always, according to the conception of most ancient times, a fast. 
The words of the Lord were always remembered: "But the days 
will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, 
and then they shall fast." (Matt. 9:15 sqq.) Good Friday and 
Holy Saturday were always regarded, above all others, as the days 
on which the bridegroom was taken away. 2 Thus, these two days, 
and especially Good Friday, appear in most ancient times everywhere 
as fast-days. This fasting was very rigorously observed in many 
places. It is of interest to know that, here and there, it lasted forty 
hours, taking in a day and a night — therefore, from Good Friday 
until the evening of Holy Saturday, or from noon on Good Friday to 
Easter morning. Proof of this we have in a writing, addressed to 
Pope Victor (189-199), which has been embodied into the Ecclesiastical 
History of Eusebius. 3 

1 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 60. Didache, c. 8. Hermae Pastor, V. T. Tert. de 
jejun., c. 2: 10, 14. In some places the fast of these days was called the fasts of 
the stations of the militia of Christ. Tert. de jejun, 2: 10, 13, 14, etc. 

2 Tert. de jejun. 2: 13, 14. De orat. dom. 18. Tertullian gives positive testi- 
mony to an Easter fast, which according to his meaning is a Good Friday fast, 
which lasted to Easter morning: on the days — quibus ablatus est sponsus. 

3 Eusebius, Eccles. History, V. 24, 11-18. See Funk, Eccles. Hist, treatises and 
investigations (Paderborn 1897), p. 242 sqq. 



252 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



II. How did the Forty Days' Fast of Lent and the So-called F re-Lent 

Originate ? 

1. Irenaeus and Tertullian are unacquainted with a forty days' 
fast before Easter, but well acquainted with the just mentioned fast of 
Good Friday and Holy Saturday. 

2. Almost in the middle of the third century there appears, here 
and there, a rigorous fast of one week, and in some places of two weeks, 
Sundays excepted. From later seriously considered expressions the 
existence, in the third century, of a forty days' fast, in particular churches 
might be admitted. 

3. In the fourth century, however, we find the first positive traces 
of a general forty days' fast, although Leo 1 1 regarded it as an apostolic 
institution. Canon 5 of the council of Xice (325) testifies to the exist- 
ence of a quadragesimal time as an existent custom and even as a positive 
law. It is rather interesting to rind that the letters on feasts, by St. 
Athanasius, prescribe first, a fast of six days, then, beginning with the 
year 330, a forty days' fast, which is to begin on the Monday of the 
sixth full week before Easter. A letter for direction, from Rome in 
the year 339. requests the Abbot Serapion to announce to the brethren 
a forty days' fast that, "when the whole world is fasting, we alone, who 
five in Egypt, be not ridiculed on account of not fasting." 2 

4. In the ever increasing testimonials of the fourth century, con- 
cerning the forty days' asceticism before Easter, the quadragesimal 
time does not appear merely as a fast, nor even in the first place as such. 
It is primarily a time of preparation for baptism, for the absolution of 
the penitents, and a time for the renewal of the spirit and of the life of 
all the faithful. Among these days the fast-days and fast-periods were 
interspersed, or there was a fast throughout the whole time. 3 

5. This forty days' preparation for Easter was differently celebrated 
in different places. In Rome Holy Week was counted with the Quad- 
ragesima; in Antioch, and wherever Antiochean liturgical customs 
obtained, a sharp distinction was made between Quadragesima and the 
following great week. 4 In Rome Sundays were exempted from the fast; 
in Constantinople Sundays and Saturdays. Holy Saturday, however, 
was there also a fast-day. The pilgrim Sylvia testifies, in behalf of 
Jerusalem for the year 385, that the preparation for Easter did not last 
forty days, as in Gaul, but eight weeks: and that the people fasted on 
all days except Saturdays and Sundays. Holy Saturday, however, was 

1 Leo M., Sermo 40: 5. 

2 Kellner, Heortologie. p. 62. Larsow Festbriefe des hi. Athanasius, p. 62. 

3 Duchesne, Origin of Worship, p. 232. 

4 John Chrysostoni. horn. 30 in Gen. 1. Const. Apost. V. 13. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 253 

likewise an exception to the general rule. Thus, especially in the East, a 
longer series of weeks of fast was evolved — principally, however, to pre- 
celebrate the fast-days which were not observed during the Quadragesima, 
or to connect Eastertide directly with Epiphany or out of other reasons 
of a climactic spiritual devotion toward the mysteries of Easter. 1 

6. When the Quadragesima had evolved into a time of fast, it 
received, according to what has already been said, thirty-six fast-days 
in the West, but wherever Saturdays were also fast-days, only thirty. 
Even Gregory the Great still speaks of thirty-six fast-days. This he 
explains, according to his custom, in a symbolical manner. 2 This Quad- 
ragesima, in the sense just mentioned, began on the sixth Sunday before 
Easter. Even today we read in the Secreta of the first Sunday of Lent: 
Sacrificium quadragesimalis initii similiter immolamus. Also the rubri- 
cal remark, that vespers are to be celebrated ante comestionem only from 
the Dominica I in Quadragesima, reminds us, even today, of the earlier 
arrangement. Then thirty-six fast-days were also regarded as the tenth 
part of the year, the tithe of which was to be offered to the Lord as a 
sacrifice of mortification. 

7. Still, the contradiction between the name and the number of 
the actual fast-days became gradually recognized the more the Quad- 
ragesima developed into the time of Lent. 

The author of the Liber Pontificalis attempted in Rome, on account 
of this contradictory view, to advocate the celebration of a seventh week 
of fast as a law. 

In the seventh century, however, the placing of four fast-days before 
the first Sunday became the general practise, in order thereby to obtain 
forty actual fast-days. This extension of Lent spread rapidly and, with 
but few exceptions, over the West. The real beginning of Lent became, 
therefore, a Wednesday, which gradually developed into the significant 
Ash Wednesday of today — the caput jejunii. This change we find in 
the so-called Sacramentarium Gelasianum: But the Wednesday that 
introduces the Quadragesima does not yet bear therein the name of Feria 
IV cinerum. Nevertheless, the celebration of stations is already desig- 
nated for these four days. Gregory the Great himself, as already re- 
marked, recognizes only thirty-six real fast-days. But the so-called 
Gregorianum shows already the Feria IV cinerum. 

8. About this time, partly earlier, there arose special station-litur- 
gies for the three preceding Sundays, of which the week or time sequen- 
ces were analogous to the Quadragesima, generally designated by the 

1 Peregrinatio Sylviae, ed. Geyer, c. 27, 28; ed. 

2 See Pfeilstuecker, Authentische Ausgabe der Evangelienhomilien Gregors des 
Grossen (1900), p. 20. Compare Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, I. B., 
pp. 772, 773, n. 512, and especially 513. Compare Gregory, in Ev. Horn. 16. 



HOMILETIC AXD CATECHETIC STUDIES 



name of Quinquagesima . Sexagesima. Septuagesima. Some researchers 
think that these periods arose through the custom of particular churches, 
which instituted a great number of omitted fast-days before the first Sunday 
of Lent. Others, again, are of the opinion that the week is a kind of 
an imitation of the customary longer Lent of the East, which is there 
occasioned by a number of regularly omitted fast-days during Lent. 
Grisar thinks that these penitential days and days of prayer originated 
possibly with these celebrations of the stations in some of the celebrated 
churches of Rome, during times of great distress and public danger 
(compare the Introit of the Septuagesima : Circumdederunt me dolor es 
mortis'', possibly under Pelagius I and John III: Originally they were 
only transitory celebrations of penance, introduced merely for a moment- 
ary necessity, which afterwards remained and were retained as hxed 
liturgical celebrations and were introduced only later into the liturgy 
of Lent. 1 The medieval liturgists recognize a series of symbolical 
explanations of the Sundays of Septuagesima. Sexagesima, Quinquages- 
ima. the substance of which is not to be antecedently rejected, because 
it often conceals within itself some interesting traditions, though it 
likewise contains very much that is arbitrary. Thus. f.i.. these Sundays 
are compared with the seventy weeks of years, which were the direct 
time of preparation for the work of the redemption, or are understood 
as a symbol of the great divine work of the Old Law. or. as an exact, 
though not mathematically considered, seventy days' preparation for 
Easter, etc. (See Durandus, Rationale. Septuagesima.) 

9. That the Sundays of Septuagesima. Sexagesima. and Quinqua- 
gesima were later introduced into the liturgy of Lent and are connected 
with the present ritual of Eastertide, is an incontestable fact, which is 
fully proven by the missal and the breviary and by other historical 
documents. 

The present liturgy of Lent likewise appears as a grand liturgical 
whole, harmoniously built upon the pre-Lent and which attains its acme 
in Holy Week and finally ends the great solemnity of Easter. 

10. Pre-Lent and Lent appear, therefore, as a grandly arranged 
preparation for Easter. It is a preparation for the celebration of the 
passion and death of Christ, which is compressed within Holy Week, 
after having received its hrst development in Passion-week. The 
Quadragesima leads finally to a glorious Easter, to the celebration of the 
resurrection of Christ, and our resurrection with Him. Lent itself is 
not originally the memorial celebration of the passion of Christ. Only 
the later liturgical development placed the celebration of the mysteries 
of the passion into weeks of Lent. The homiietic activity must take 
this development into account, since the faithful no longer unite, as 

1 Grisar. Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, L M. L B. n. 515. p. 7 "5. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



2 55 



formerly, in celebrating the entire Holy Week. The fundamental char- 
acter of pre-Lent and of Lent consists in the celebration of the entire 
work of the redemption, purposely prepared and accomplished by 
Christ and applied to us. It emphasizes, with a mighty energy, the 
co-operation of Christians in the renovation of the work of the redemp- 
tion amongst and in the faithful. Thus Lent appears to us, from this 
historical consideration : 

(a) essentially, as a time of preparation of the candidates for baptism, 
of the catechumens, in which the entire congregation takes part. The 
history of the Lenten liturgy is, therefore, intimately bound up with 
the history of the catechumenate of baptism. Innumerable passages, 
prayers, songs, and lessons of the Lenten and the Easter liturgy are 
filled with remembrances of baptism, of baptismal grace, and baptismal 
preparation. Lent is: 

(b) a time of preparation of penitents for reconciliation with God and 
the Church. 

(c) a penitential and Lenten time of all the faithful for a renovation 
of life through faith and grace — a crucifying and burying of the old man 
of sin, and a resurrection with Christ to a newness of life. Therefore, 
Lent is characterized, from time immemorial, by 

(a) frequent services, with a liturgy corresponding, most especially, 
to a time of penance; 

Q3) a rich announcement and explanation of the Word of God; 
(y) general reception of the sacraments. 

The arrangement of the masses and the offices of the individual 
Sundays and holy days is very old, still, the result of long development. 
In particular churches the simpler and earlier degrees of development 
lasted longer. Thus, f.i., in the Missal Gothic- GaUicanum, the very 
ancient gallican sacramentary, we find five masses under the title of 
Missa jejunii, or in Quadragesima, without any more definite indication 
of time. 

Further particulars we shall insert into the homiletic explanations 
of the liturgy. 

§ 19. A Littirgic-Homiletic General View or Pre-Lent 

and Lent 

After having sketched the progress of Paschal-tide and the 
historical deA T elopment of Lent in general, there remains still a 
liturgic-homiletic consideration of the several Sundays and weeks 
according to their fundamental ideas, omitting particulars and 
more remotely concomitant thoughts. 

1. The entire great time celebrates — as has already been 



256 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



remarked — the work of the redemption, pre-arranged, and pre- 
pared long ago, and finally executed and accomplished in a bloody 
manner, which is crowned with the victory of Christ and of the 
Christians. 

2. Septnagesima is the turning-point at which the joy and 
alleluja of Christmas part — and the work of the redemption 
passes before the soul in its more serious character. The Introit 
terminates suddenly the sentiment of Christmas: Circumdederunt 
me gemitus mortis, dolor es infer ni circumdederunt me: et in iribu- 
latione mea invocavi Dominum. It seems as though the nocturnal 
shadows of Calvary suddenly surrounded us, and as though we 
already heard the prayers of the death-agony of the Redeemer, 
enveloped in the moans of death and the pains of sin and of hell. 
With a mighty accent the Church desires to proclaim: We are 
beginning the highly serious celebration of the bloody work of the 
redemption, — though she does not yet devote herself exclusively 
to the meditation of the Passion of Christ. The present liturgy 
places the feast of the prayer of our Lord in Gethsemane into 
Feria III, after the conception of the Introit of the Sunday. 
(Compare also the historic development and the views on the 
first introduction of the celebration of penance, p. 253, n. 8.) 

3. In the whole time of Pre-Lent and of Lent Christ appears to 
us as a man in the full age of His life: laboring, teaching, loving, 
and struggling — humbled and exalted — persecuted and blessing 
— as an example, a lawgiver, a host — again suffering, dying, 
ignominiously sinking — and then rising to an immeasurable 
glory. 

The entire work of salvation passes before us in a dramatic man- 
ner; we live it, we celebrate it, and we take part in it. 

4. In the following paragraphs we will sketch the great steps 
which liturgy takes from Septuagesima to Easter — there are four 
great steps, after the aeternitatis aditus: 

(a) Pre-Lent. 

(b) Lent proper. 

(c) Passion-tide. 

(d) Holy Week. 

§ 20. Pre-Lent (First Step.) 

1. The opus redemptionis in genere. Pre-Lent, the history of 
which we have already considered above, developed, in the course 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 257 

of time, into a great celebration of the opus redemptionis in genere 

— in the spirit of penance and of love. 

2. The Introit of the paschal time. Pre-Lent is a serious Introit, 
a liturgic-homiletic portal and vestibule of the paschal time. 
During a time of worldly rejoicing the Church awakens serious 
notes — without, however, imposing thereby a law of penance and 
of fast. 

Pre-Lent considers the world, and the work of the redemption 
of the world, under a threefold point of view. 
There appears before our souls: 

1. The vineyard of the Lord. 

2. The field of the Lord. 

3. The vineyard and the sowing field of God redeemed by the 
love and the passion of Christ. 

§ 21. Septuagesima 1 

The Vineyard of the Lord 

The work of redemption is as old as fallen humanity. The 
Church of God existed in Paradise. 

This Sunday shows us the vineyard of the Lord in the world, 
and: 

A. The establishment of the vineyard. The lessons of the first 
and the second nocturns, taken from Genesis, narrate the creation 
of the world, i.e., the establishment of the vineyard of the Lord, 
the foundation of the kingdom of nature and of the supernatural 

— then the first catastrophe and the first salvation — God's vine- 
yard — God's school is the entire creation. Its ruin is sin, its 
salvation the Redeemer. Everything is described in grandiose 
lines. (Compare above, p. 102, n. 1-7.) 

B. The laborers of the vineyard. The Gospel shows the calling 
of the laborers into the vineyard of the Lord during the course 
of the history of the world. 

(a) At the early dawn of the history of the world: Adam, the 
first children of God: 

(b) At the third hour: Noe. 

(c) At the sixth hour: Abraham. 

(d) At the ninth hour: Moses and the prophets. 

(e) At the eleventh hour: toward the end of the world, Christ 

1 See above, § 19: 2, p. 255 and pp. 620-625, also p. 253: 8, 9. 



258 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Himself calls His laborers — the Apostles — their successors — 
the Christians themselves. 

All laborers are promised by Christ an eternal denarius, whether 
they labor before Him, with Him, or after Him — but in Him and 
through Him. They all labor in the great work of redemption. 
(See above, p. 106, n. 6 sqq. Compare the explanations of the 
parables below, pp. 620-625.) 

C. Our co-operation in the vineyard is required by the Epistle, 
taken from the I Cor. 9 and 10: Sic cur rite, ut comprehendatis. 
Labor so, run thus as does he who wins the prize in the race-course. 
Here it is possible for all to win the prize. Two things are required 
for the work of this race : 

1. A holy training of t*he mind, i.e., principles (of faith): sic 
curro non quasi incertum: sic pugno non quasi aerem verberans. 
(Principles must control and not whims. See above, p. 104, n.3, 
4, 5-) 

2. A training of the will: i.e., self-denial: castigo corpus meum 
et in servitutem redigo. (Not passion should be king, but the will 
illumined by faith and directed by reason. See above, p. 104, 
n. 3.) The Introit, an image of Gethsemane, presents a powerful 
inducement to this co-operation. (Compare also the office of the 
feast of the Prayer of the Lord in the Garden of Olives, on the 
following Tuesday. 

§ 22. Sexagesima 

The Field of God 

The kingdom of God was from the very beginning of the world 
a field wherein the word of God was sown. The ministration and 
the hearing of the word of God ever belong to the great work of 
redemption. (See pp. 13-17; pp. 29 sqq., n. 3; p. 33 sqq; p. 105: 4; 
p. 123 sqq., Index: Resolutions of sermons.) This Sunday points 
out: 

A. The sower — Christ Jesus, throughout the entire liturgy. 

B. The sowers of Jesus Christ before and after Him. 

(a) A sower before Christ. — Noe appears in the lesson of the 
first nocturn: in a barbarous, impious time he scatters the seed of 
God. Only a portion listens to him. Whoever would not hear 
the word of God was devoured by the flood. In some, however, 
the scattered word of God bore fruit in the last moments of their 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 259 

lives, through perfect contrition. (Compare I Pet. 3 : 20; see above, 
pp. 105 and 107, n. 5.) (Malediction on those who would not hear 
the word of God.) 

(b) A sower after Christ was St. Paul, in the Epistle (II Cor., 
c. 11 and 12), who amidst innumerable sufferings, persecutions, 
and disappointments sowed the word of God and reaped rich and 
most abundant fruit. (Blessing on those who hear the word of 
God. See above, p. 16, n. 2; p. 21, n. 5; p. 23, n. 6.) 

(c) The vicissitude of the seed. The Gospel describes the vicis- 
situde of the word of God among men, in a profound and almost 
impenetrable parable. The preacher should often refer to the 
explanations given of this by the Saviour, meditate upon them, 
and consult exegetes and his own personal pastoral experience. 
He will find, again and again, new matter and new views of the 
significance of the word of God, for the sermon and for catechetical 
instruction, etc., for Catholic life: Fides ex auditu. (Rom. 10: 14- 
19.) (See above, pp. 21-22.) The vicissitude of the seed will 
always suggest new important points to speak upon, concerning 
sin and the consequences of the systematic avoidance of divine 
service, and the damage caused by the neglect of hearing sermons: 
Qui ex Deo est verbum Dei audit. (B. 1-16, compare Fonck, Para- 
beln, pp. 66-94.) 

§ 23. QUINQUAGESIMA 

The Vineyard of God and the Field Purchased by the Love and the 

Passion of Christ 

This Sunday offers us : A. The promise of the Passion of Christ, 
in the Gospel of Luke, c. 18: ecce ascendimus J erosolymam et consum- 
mabuntur omnia, etc. The Passion is promised in grand lines and 
represented as absolutely and indispensably necessary, in spite of 
every possible objection. Only through the suffering of Christ 
could and can the vineyard and the field of Christ produce super- 
natural fruit. Like Abraham, who went forth from Ur in Chaldea 
(lesson of the first nocturn, Genesis, c. 12), so Christ goes forth 
from His home, i.e., the promised land of Heaven, to lose and to 
gain everything. See above, p. 107 sqq., n. 7, 8, on Abraham, and 
pp. 86, 87, 88, on the promise of the Passion of Christ. But the 
promise alone of the Passion is not sufficient; there is, moreover, 
necessary: 



260 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



B. The comprehension of the Passion of Christ. 

(a) We must learn to understand the Passion of Christ. Christ 
opens the eyes of the blind man — so likewise does He desire to 
open our eyes during the corning time of Lent, and even now, on 
today's Sunday, for the comprehension of the Passion. According 
to the plan of God — Christ must suffer. His great immeasurable 
Passion points out to us the greatness of divine justice and the 
greatness of man's sin — the greatness of divine love and the great- 
ness of human perfidy. (See pp. 86, 87, 88; 294 sqq.) 

(b) We must learn to understand the depth of the foundation 
of the Passion of Christ — the love of Christ, — and also to awaken 
in our lives a perfect love and contrition, as the Epistle, I Cor., 
c. 13, announces in a marvelous hymn of love. (Compare p. 
349 sqq.) 

All the various points and also the entire view present a vast 
richness of themes. (More particular matter concerning this will 
be found in later supplementary papers.) 

§ 24. Entrance of Lent 

I. The caput jejunii: Ash Wednesday. After bringing these 
great images of the Passion before the eyes of our souls, amidst 
the very joys of the world, Ash Wednesday introduces the world 
and the public to contemplation and to penance and so — to Christ. 

The celebration of Ash Wednesday announces: 

A. On the part of God: Mercy: miser eris omnium et nihil 
odisti eorum, quae fecisti, dissimulans peccata hominum propter 
poenitentiam et parcens illis: quia tu es Dominus Deus noster. (In- 
troit.) 

B. On our part: Penance, and especially — (a) the thought of 
death which moves to penance. (The blessing of the ashes and 
their distribution.) (b) Penance itself — but above all — (a) the 
penitential work of fasting is recommended (Epistle and Gospel) — 
and (/3) with real emphasis, the true spirit of fasting and morti- 
fication. (Gospel and partly the Epistle.) For the correct con- 
ception of fasting the preface and the innumerable orations of 
Lent, especially of the ferial days, offer most striking, beautiful, 
and practical hints. (See p. 263 sqq.) 

II. The triduum after Ash Wednesday. The masses of the three 
ferial days succeeding Ash Wednesday emphasize in a marked man- 
ner the inwardness of the sentiment of fasting: faith and unlim- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 261 



ited confidence in prayer to the great God of mercy, who approaches 
us on Ash Wednesday (Feria V, see in the Epistle and the Gospel : 
the faithfully confiding Ezechias and the faithfully praying Cen- 
turion of Capharnaum — both are saved in greatest need) — love, 
most sincere and upright love of God and of man. (Compare the 
glorious Epistle of Feria V, Isaias 58, on the spirit of fasting and of 
love, and also the exalted Gospel on the love of neighbor, Matt., 
c. 5 and 6.) 

To those who believe, who confide and pray and love in time 
of need and of danger, the saving, healing, merciful God, who 
aids in need and in danger, appears in need and in danger. (Gospel 
of Saturday, Mark 6, of the wandering in the night of Jesus on 
the sea toward the threatened bark of the Apostles, and of the 
great healing by the merciful God on the western shores, in con- 
nection with the catechetical explanation of Capharnaum, which 
Mark overlooks.) The contrite, the loving, and those pardoning 
receive the light of Easter and enjoy an Easter rest, an Easter peace, 
and an Easter blessing: Cum eff un der is esurienti animam tuam et 
animam afflidam repleveris orietur in tenebris lux tua, et tenebrae 
tuae erunt sicut mer idles. Et requiem dabit tibi Dominus . . . et 
eris quasi hortus irriguus et sicut fons aquarum, cujus noil deficiunt 
aquae, etc. (Epistle of Feria VI, Isaias, c. 58.) These first days 
are like wandering on the purgatorial hill of purification, of inward- 
ness: by self-denial, by faith, and by love — the first steps of true 
penance — to which the right hand of the All-merciful God beckons. 
(Compare p. 593 sqq.) 

The first four fast-days give the Lenten preacher inestimable 
suggestions how to introduce the congregation into the spirit of 
Lent — and supply him with astonishingly beautiful material for 
sermons on Ash Wednesday and on the first Sunday of Lent. 

III. The Roman stations of Lent and religious discourses to societies. 
In the Roman formularies of masses we often find during Lent, over all 
ferial and Sunday masses, the title: Statio: Statio ad S. Petrum, ad 
S. Laurentium, etc. These stations were a peculiar kind of services and 
religious combinations on ferial days and in certain churches, where the 
clergy and the people of Rome congregated for liturgical celebrations 
with solemn procession. For this purpose they assembled mainly in 
one particular church. This gathering was called collecta. From that 
place they marched in solemn procession, with the banner of the cross 
(crux stationaria) to the real stational church: on their way they sang 



262 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



psalms, and in the vicinity of the stational church they intoned, later 
on, the litany of All Saints. Therefore, these processions, the second 
part of the celebration, were called litaniae (see p. 536). The third 
principal part of the religious gathering was the solemn mass with a 
homily in the station church proper, to which they made the pilgrimage. 
During ancient times the solemn mass was celebrated and the sermon 
delivered very often by the Pope himself. These stations are very 
ancient. Tertullian presupposes them as well known in his time: 
"Like the warriors on guard, so are the Christians, like good warriors 
of Jesus Christ, on guard by fasting and divine service in certain places 
and posts against the infernal foe, oftentimes from early morn until three 
o'clock in the afternoon." Gregory the Great " fixed" these stations 
and appointed days in certain churches, the seven principal churches, the 
oldest titled churches which had a fixed clergy, several basilicas of ceme- 
teries, and other sacred places. The name of the fixed churches was 
inserted as a title over the respective mass-formularies in the Roman 
missal, where they are read even to this day. It is said of Gregory the 
Great that "he fixed the stations in the various basilicas, in the ceme- 
teries of the martyrs: and the hosts of the Lord followed Gregory who 
preceded them." If today we make the rounds to the many great and 
small basilicas of Rome we still find many remembrances of these 
glorious processions — the witnesses of a deep religiosity. (Grisar, 
History of Rome and of the Popes, n. 103, 164, 246, 378, 397, 400, 422, 
430, 505, 509, 513, 514.) During the middle ages the Pope himself, 
with his entire court, marched in these processions, especially during 
Lent. But even today a special solemn service is celebrated in these 
churches, designated by the mass-formularies, which is in a manner the 
principal service of the city, though, of course, services in the other 
churches are not omitted. The stations are celebrated on great feast- 
days, during festive weeks, and on feast-days of martyrs, but especially 
during Lent. Whoever is in Rome during Lent may follow these daily 
celebrations in particular churches with great edification. They create, 
from all sides, serious and lovely remembrances of ancient Christianity 
in the souls of the participants. 

IV. The ferial offices and their stations. The ferial offices are often 
interestingly related to their station churches. Sometimes these relations 
are archeological. Oftener the idea of the office is singularly illustrated 
by the art and the history of the ancient basilicas in which the office is 
celebrated, without, however, obliging us to think of any originally 
intended connection. The relation of the basilicas and their history to 
the idea of the office could afford much interesting material for Lenten 
addresses to associations of men, journey-men, and young men. His- 
torical, aesthetic, and cultural ideas could be easily interwoven in a 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 263 



stimulating, a broader, and a higher popularity, according to the degree 
of the culture of the hearers, and, at the same time, with serious religious 
admonitions. As sources of such material we recommend: P. A. Kuhn, 
Roma; De Waal, Roma; Gsell-Fells, Rom; Grisar, Geschichte Roms 
und der Paepste, LB., etc. We shall give a few popularized examples, 
though, of course, without going into details, with which we would like 
to indicate the way to a field which is cultivated, alas! so little. 

V. The statio ad S. Sabinam on Ash Wednesday. The priest will 
find on Ash Wednesday, over the ferial mass, the inscription: Statio ad 
Sanctam Sabinam. Therefore, let us be up and climb the Aventine Hill, 
starting from the banks of the Tiber, up to the very ancient church of 
Maria in Kosmedin, the Grecian church under Beiisar, passing along 
through narrow passways and steps surrounded by walls, onward to the 
lovely, free hill, where the eternal city lies at our feet, where deep down 
the sombre Tiber flows, where St. Peter's dome, on the other side of the 
city, arrests our attention, where ancient sanctuaries greet us from the 
crowns of the near-by hills, of the valleys and the slopes — St. Alexius, 
Sancta Maria del Priorato, Sancta Prisca — and farther on, San Saba. 
It is as if fifteen centuries sank at once before our eyes into the ocean of 
time. The noise of the modern world is hushed. There is deep, deep 
silence. Where you stand, look, before you a venerable series of ancient 
columns arise, which carry the wide span of the brick arches of the 
basilica, which, according to an ancient Christian custom, are decorated 
with colored tiny marble slabs. The entire twenty-four splendidly 
fluted columns of Corinthian order, cut out of Parian marble, descend 
from pagan times and are surely taken from one solitary building. 
They are attributed, not without reason, to the former Diana temple 
on the Aventin. The splendid columns divide the long house into 
three naves. The basilica still shows, from all sides, the open 
framework of the roof. Here you stand upon the variegated 
mosaic floor and survey with your eyes the solemn, long rows of 
columns, then the surprised look ascends to the ancient arches of 
rare workmanship or it rests upon the Confessio below the freely 
standing main altar, where the relics of St. Sabina, the Illyrian martyr, 
rest. The rich Illyrian priest, Peter, afterwards Bishop, built this 
splendid basilica in honor of the martyr, on the Aventin, assisted 
by Pope Coelestin I, and afterwards Xystus III, about 422-440. An 
old mosaic inscription says of him: Presbyter Urbis Illyrica de gente 
Petrus: pauperibus locuples, sibi pauper: "Rich to the poor, poor to 
himself" — a really beautiful memorial epitaph, which at once engages 
our entire sympathy for the man and the times far away. Yes, 0 
Pilgrim! permit yourself to be drawn thereto! None of the larger 
Roman basilicas, since the conflagration and the indeed splendid resto- 



264 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ration of St. Paul's, has preserved so admirably the character of the 
original antiquity as did St. Sabina. Though the original splendid 
mosaics which shone from the tribune are wanting; later they were, 
replaced, alas! by frescoes. But otherwise the basilica still stands, for 
the greater part, as it came from the hands of the builders, in the years 
422-425 sqq. It is as if the world and the modern trend of times were 
here excluded: antiquity and simplicity, deep seriousness and the 
warmly penetrating Christian love act upon the soul: the venerable 
patina of antiquity enhances the interest of every stone. Thanks to 
renovators of 1587, otherwise so eager for modern things, they spared 
the sublime original character of this house of God. The Christian 
spirit cut these columns, of exalted elegance, out of the antique ruins 
of the temple, with a sense of its indestructible beauty, but they bear 
a Christian architrave and are embodied into a new construction con- 
trolled by a new spirit. The temple bears witness, as does also the 
Roman liturgy celebrated therein, to the unique union of the Christian 
inner and yet world-controlling spirit, with the classical old-Roman 
majesty and moderate repose. (Grisar, I.e. I, n. 253.) The character 
of the ancient liturgy of Lent corresponds, in a marvelous manner, with 
the character of this temple. It must be really a happiness to celebrate 
Ash Wednesday in these somber halls, with the ancient Christian fea- 
tures. Formerly the Popes themselves marched in solemn cavalcade 
on Ash Wednesday up the Aventin, to celebrate the caput jejunii in 
Sancta Sabina. This exalted mode of celebrating ceased about one 
hundred years ago. But even today the solemn station service is still 
celebrated on this hilltop. The floor of the church exhales the aroma of 
the scattered myrtle and laurel twigs, the liturgy begins. How solemnly 
does the memento of death resound through these ancient halls! Aye, 
these proud and high columns, which once upon a time wound the exte- 
rior pompous wreaths around the temple of Diana and then hid them- 
selves in the interior splendor of the temple of Christ, they could tell of 
the glory, which sinks into dust and ashes! They could tell of the ful- 
filment of the words of the prophet concerning the kingdoms of the 
world, and of the all-powerful and latest Iron Roman empire that: The 
stone, which is Christ, breaking loose from the eternal hills, has conquered 
them all — and, when they withstood Him, He crushed them. Memento 
homo, quia pulvis es! Call them up, all — all who have taken part in 
the building of this temple; all who came up here to receive ashes, place 
these dead together, then you may see from the Aventine the mortuary 
field of Ezechiel, which awaits the breath of the resurrection of Christ. 
Memento homo! Now in the Epistle sung by the subdeacon, there 
arises the call of the prophet Joel, c. 2, for a fast and for penance: "Be 
converted, with all your heart!" and that cry of mercy, which like- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 265 



wise often resounded here in frightful and difficult periods of the world's 
history : Parce Domine, parce populo tuo! And if now, in the most ancient 
Christian temple, the Saviour admonishes us in the Gospel (Matt. 6) 
of this day: "When you fast be not as the hypocrites, sad. . . that to 
men you appear fasting" — aye, when He addresses us in that exalted 
sermon on the inwardness, the inner, pure, and holy intention which 
should animate the strictly commanded fast and all our works, then the 
basilica itself, exteriorly so modest and almost unadorned, but interiorly 
so elevating and splendid, becomes an image of the Christian whose 
" entire beauty is from within" — but whose inner greatness shines also 
from without and bears fruit in patience and in modesty. Hereof we 
are also reminded by the last choral song which reverberates at Com- 
munion through these halls (Ps. 1) : "He who shall meditate on His law, 
day and night, shall bring forth its fruit in due season." Whoever stood 
during the quietness of Lent in these somber halls, praying and medi- 
tating, will never forget the impression made by the entire celebration 
of Ash Wednesday, with its unadorned and simple grandeur into which 
we were lead by its liturgy, which is closely followed by the missal. 

The service is now finished. The chanting ceases. Again there 
is deep silence, no noise of the world can penetrate into this isolated 
basilica. Do you hear the distant roaring? It is not caused by the 
waves of the Tiber, which lave the hill, but by the waves of the history 
of the world, which cast their shadows around it, and which arouse, in 
the feelings of the visitor, ringlets of waves of times long ago! The 
basilica tells of the history of pagan Rome. The antique columns of 
the church recall ancient Roman times, when the Aventin was only a 
plebeian city, then — the seat of various prominent sanctuaries, among 
which was the already mentioned temple of Diana, which was located 
in the vicinity of the present church of Sancta Prisca, and looked down 
upon the valley of Murcia with its circus of Maximus : — there must 
have existed here a veritable glory of temples and statues: over this 
pagan pomposity, with its inner emptiness, Christian inwardness gained 
a glorious victory, incorporating within itself the real greatness of 
ancient Rome. Beneath Sancta Sabina subterranean constructions of 
singular small tunnels (cuniculi) give evidence of a grand canalisation 
and drainage in the interest of a well-conceived hygiene, the systems of 
which still excite our admiration. 

The Confessio of Sancta Sabina and others close by recall the times 
of the martyrs, the history of the martyrs and of the first Christian Rome — 
from the depth of bygone days. It is among the most beautiful sights 
that Rome affords to traverse the places "where the blood of the holy 
heroes flowed and fell as seed of new Christians into the furrows." 
With a touching piety Christian art deposited, from St. Peter's dome to 



266 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the smallest isolated basilica, its homage in these places of execution 
and of tombs — and the adorning hand of almost every century offered 
its own unique gift through constantly new and repeated offerings of 
art and of culture, in order to atone for the disgrace which the height of 
Rome's ancient culture had caused them. And thus Sancta Sabina 
became, like the most of the more important churches, an entire Repeti- 
torium of the history of the Church and of Art. (Martyrium d. Sabina, 
c. 126.) Now turn back to the rear wall of the nave, to which the later 
constructed buildings of the cloister were joined. It tells us of the 
history of the Popes. There a very ancient mosaic still glitters which 
narrates, in a large lettered inscription, the foundation of the church 
by Peter of Illyrium : Culmen apostolicum cum Coelestinus haberet primus 
et in toto fulgeret episcopus orbe. This fixes the time. Besides this, 
two colossal female figures astonish our look greatly: "The Church that 
came from the pagans," and "the Church that arose from the Jews." 
Here the entire great Catholic idea in the fifth century of the Roman 
empire of the New Testament, greets us — of the Church of Christ 
which embraces, under the Vicar of Christ, all nations of the world. 
Sometime ago we visited, on a quiet evening, coming from Sancta Sabina, 
the very near Maltese garden, from which St. Peter's with its cupola is 
seen — "as in a dream" — through the world-renowned keyhole of the 
door at the entrance, hedged in by the laurel leaves of the alley of the 
garden. Though it was late, still, the gates were opened for us; we 
wandered through the alley, which traverses the garden to the edge of 
the hill, and which through the planted laurel walls, permits the aston- 
ished visitor to see always and only St. Peter's cupola — which greets 
you from afar — and nothing else than St. Peter's — St. Peter's, this God- 
protected eye-apple of the world. Is it " a dream "? We halt at the marble 
balustrade at the edge of the garden and of the hill; there the Eternal 
City really lies before us, with its history, showing us, in the semi-dark 
twilight, a series of the most memorable places. But constantly and 
again the view is drawn toward St. Peter, whose noble cupola's height 
rises alone through the gold and purple of the blazing evening sky. 
Like a dream, yes — but really a veritable image of the Church 
herself. In Sancta Sabina we had just read of the fifth century: when 
Coelestin I stood upon the Apostolic mountain peak and shone, as 
bishop, over the whole world. But we also, the children of the modern 
twentieth century, could note in similar words the events of the 
threshold of our times : When Leo XIII occupied the peak of the papacy 
and shone, as bishop, as the Lumen de coelo on this terrestrial globe. 
How much is fallen and sunk and turned into ruins and become matter 
of antiquity since the days of Coelestin I! but the papacy, surrounded 
by the divine flame of heavenly light, still exists. Knowledge has 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



267 



broadened since the days of Coelestin — and, nevertheless, we too say 
and write: Cum Pius in toto fulgeret episcopus orbe. This is the inde- 
structible golden background upon which all the joys of Rome stand 
out in bold relief. 

But let us go back again into the great Sancta Sabina for a moment. 
In passing we behold the main portal which, in keeping with the entire 
basilica, gives us a portion of the history of Art. The wings of the door 
of the main entrance, toward the cloister, are the most ancient and best- 
preserved wood-carvings of ancient Christian Rome (425). Art, risen 
from the depth of the catacombs, partly still covered with the reminis- 
cences of the catacombs, breathes a freer atmosphere and seeks new 
ways. From many, still ungainly representations the first rays of a new 
period shine forth, but also, at the same time, the entire pragmatics of 
ancient arts upon a biblical subsoil. The first picture above, to the 
left, is one of the very first representations of the crucifixion of Christ. 

New waves of ecclesiastical history play around the Aventine. From 
the twelfth to the fourteenth century the Popes themselves often lived 
here, in the papal palace next to the church of Sancta Sabina. Who is 
able to arrange, hurriedly, all the reminiscences of this eventful period? 

Honorius III offered to St. Dominic a portion of this newly built 
palace as an abode. Here he approved the rules of his order. The 
room of the Saint is today a devout chapel. In the garden flourishes 
and blooms an orange tree which is said to have been planted by the 
hands of St. Dominic, from which pilgrims pluck leaves and fruit and 
string them into rosaries of lovely souvenirs. Another tree, which the 
hand of St. Dominic planted here, is historically unimpeachable — his 
great order. We see there the mountain of waves and impulses which 
went forth from the Aventine and St. Dominic's order: those grand 
renovations of the fife of faith and of ecclesiastical science. It was a 
pinnacle from which the full light of the Catholic view of the world of 
those times flashed forth. The scientific, the practical, and the prayer- 
ful impulses of the foundation of St. Dominic combined themselves with 
the ascetic-social of the great St. Francis and created a new spring for 
the nations of the world. 

The light of this view of the world is still burning on the Aventin, 
and has also taken into itself modern elements. Next to the Dominicans 
who guard Sancta Sabina, stands, in* close proximity, the new grand 
college and church of St. Anselm, where Benedictines from all countries 
devote themselves to all-around studies, according to the spirit of St. 
Thomas. But the inscriptions of the missal, which daily designate the 
Roman stations and wind a wreath around the holy sacrifice of the lovely 
reminiscences of the holy city, especially for the pilgrim of Rome, act 
as a silent but a determined pulsation of the unity of all churches with 



268 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



"the chief of the grand compact of love" — the Church of Rome. (See 
Grisar, n. 259-263, n. 71, 96, 103, 106, 137, 201, 250, 260, 261, 268, 
285, 293, and p. 832.) 

VI. The Statio ad S. Georgium in Velabro. The liturgy of Feria V 
which celebrates faith and the prayer of faith as the rule of our Chris- 
tian inwardness and inner renovation (see above, p. 261) is interest- 
ingly connected with the oriental knight of faith — St. George. The 
small, though charming basilica on account of its antique character, 
the interior of which still bears the impress of the remotest Christian 
antiquity, was dedicated in 682 by Pope Leo II to St. Sebastian and to 
the Greek Knight, St. George, at a time when, at the sixth oecumenical 
council, Byzantium had again united itself in faith with Rome. Pos- 
sibly Leo selected on this account the Eastern patron of the church, 
St. George, with the Western St. Sebastian, as is done to this day in the 
liturgy, as a sign of Catholic unity between the Occident and the 
Orient. 

Thus there ascended the idea of the faith of the liturgy like an 
echo from the old temple itself, which is only opened and has a liturgical 
celebration on the twentieth of January, on the twenty-third of April 
(St. George's day), and on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday. 

VII. The Statio ad SS. Joannem et Paulum in Monte Coelio. The 
Feria VI leads us, from the arch of Constantine, almost passing San 
Gregorio on the quiet street over the Clivus Scauri, up the Coelian hill. 
There, in the basilica of SS. John and Paul, the ferial liturgy of the day 
is celebrated. The two martyrs who were officers of the imperial palace, 
of aristocratic descent, and were decapitated, in the days of Julian the 
Apostate, in the subterranean apartments of their own palace. Shortly 
afterwards the renowned Christian senator Pammachius, of the ancient 
family of Camillus, the noble hearted founder of the great Christian 
hospital of Portus Romanus at the mouth of the Tiber, had the palace 
of the martyrs, which he had acquired, torn down as far as the lower 
stories and also a part of the flank of the building, and built upon the 
foundation a splendid basilica in honor of SS. John and Paul. The 
lower compartments were filled with earth and rubbish. Only the chapel 
of the tomb, on the spot of the decapitation of the martyrs of the sub- 
terranean structure, remained free. Therefore the church was com- 
monly called the Titulus Pammachii. For a long time the traditions 
of this church, concerning SS. John and Paul, were doubted. But ever 
since 1877 highly interesting excavations, under the direction of the 
learned and happy P. Germano, of the Passionist order, again uncovered 
the present subterranean palatial compartments. Now it is easily 
discernible how the basilica was constructed of ancient Roman mural 
work (opus reticulatum) in good reticule form. Near the choir is the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 269 



descent to the palatial compartments under the floor of the church, 
which are again uncovered. A long, silent wandering through these is 
considered amongst the most interesting reminiscences of Rome. You 
pass first through a series of imposing rooms and halls with pagan (yet 
without any superstitions) decorations of a classical and a pompeian 
style. In the third row of rooms, designed in a classical style, most 
probably a hundred years before SS. John and Paul, the tabhnum is 
situated. There Christian emblems begin to mix with elegant paintings 
which were, no doubt, occasioned by the Christian proprietors. First 
you find in the spokes of the wheel-formed decorations the solitary fish 
(ichtos), the emblem of Christ surrounded by green shrubbery, the dove 
flying upward (the soul), etc. Then follow real Christian paintings of 
the latter part of the fourth century, among them especially the great 
and glorified figure of a soul praying (Or ante), which, with arms out- 
stretched, and in rich and noble vestments with the customary stripes 
and in festive and isolated frame, gazes down into the compartments. 
We are completely transplanted into the field of thoughts of the cata- 
combs, only that here all is grander and more solemn. To these great 
figures are added a series of interesting details, as in the catacombs. 
Thus, f.i., a milk-pail (possibly pointing to the Holy Eucharist) 
stands besides the Orante, between two sheep. Then follow partly 
destroyed pictures of Saints, who at one time must have most prob- 
ably surrounded Christ, etc. We enter, finally, into the apartment of 
the Confessio, erected by Pammachius and his father on the spot of 
the decapitation, with its well-preserved paintings of the middle and the 
end of the fourth century. Other apartments, which remained for a 
long time accessible, are filled with later paintings. In narrow closets 
you find pieces of furniture, f.i., with a Christian monogram, Christian 
seals, and manufacture marks. Thus these astonishing discoveries 
confirm ancient Christian traditions. Once upon a time an ancient 
inscription ornamented the entrance to the church: Quis tantas Christo 
venerandas condidit aedes, Si quaeris: cultor Pammachius fidei (published 
from the codex of Lorcher, on the Vatican, by de Rossi, Inscript. Christ. 
2, 1, 150). The expression cultor fidei, in opposition to the Roman 
pagans, is also found, as is well known, in the canon of the mass. Thus 
a tour through the subterranean compartments of the basilica of SS. 
John and Paul becomes an impressive school of faith, into which we are 
called by the Feria V at the beginning of the Lenten liturgy. The patrons 
of the church remind us mightily that we, too, belong to the cultor es 
fidei in the fullest sense of the word. 

The Titulus Pammachii, however, of the builder of the church him- 
self, should remind us of that love which knows no bounds, which ani- 
mated the cultores fidei of that time. Pammachius, the founder of this 



270 



HOMILETIC AXD CATECHETIC STUDIES 



church and of the great hospital at the mouth of the Tiber, is one of 
those exalted figures of social love who stand along the path of ecclesias- 
tical history. The former proconsul clothed himself with a simple tunic; 
he left his immense riches and devoted himself entirely to the poor. St. 
Jerome says of him: ''Here the diamonds and the pearls and the jewels, 
which served his spouse as an ornamentation, were changed into bread 
and food for the hungry; the golden embroidered silk vestments, with 
which the palace was crammed full, served not to expose the nakedness 
of vanity and worldly Handedness, but were exchanged for coarse woolen 
garments which covered the cold. All that his ancestors had once upon 
a time devoted to luxury, became now instruments of virtue. Formerly 
the palace was frequented by friends and flatterers; now it is surrounded 
by misery in every form. Formerly Pammachius accompanied by his 
hosts of clients passed through the streets; now the grateful poor form 
his guard of honor as quickly as he appears in public. When others 
scatter golden riches in order to gain the applause of the people through 
pleasure and plays and thus to ascend to the dignity of the consulate, 
this Roman spends his treasures to gain heaven for himself.'' (Hieron. 
ep. 66. n. 5. Migne P.L. 22. 641.) .And in the Tit id us Pammachii, in 
the basilica erected by Pammachius, of SS. John and Paul, that exalted 
liturgy of the love of neighbor is celebrated on the Friday after Ash Wednes- 
day, of which we have spoken on p. 261. The Epistle and the Gospel 
call for love, love of neighbor, actual works of love for the poor, the sick, 
the strangers, the distressed, the miserable, and even for our enemies. 
(See the above mentioned lessons of Isaias. c. 5S and Matt., c. 5 and 
6, of Feria VI post cineres.) But the church of the station calls to mind 
the grandest pictures of Christian charity and its reward on earth and 
in heaven. With the exterior fasting pure love of God. contrition 
caused by love, and pure love of neighbor should be combined. 

Thus, thoughts arising from liturgy and the history of the station 
churches are combined into one grandiose cultural picture of faith and of 
love and into glorious apologetics of Christianity and of the Christians 
of the Catholic Church. 

But we wished to introduce these reminiscences as an impetus to 
studies of religious discourses for societies and associations, etc., which 
desire to embrace, in one vivid and general picture, things that are of a 
religious and of a cultural character. CSee Grisar. Geschichte Roms und 
der Paepste: Sociale Taetigkeit der Kirche. S. 35 fL. n. 26. u. S. 3S ft., 
n. 32, 33 ft., Bs. S. 51. n. 42. where rich material and literature for the 
supplementation of this cultural picture is found.) 

YTII. Stations and sermons. 1. Particular reminiscences of the 
station churches and Saints might easily be interwoven as historical 
sketches into the Lenten sermons, simultaneously with liturgical thoughts, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 271 



f .i. : How does the Church preach to us the love of neighbor, at the beginning 
of Lent? (From the liturgy and the station of Feria VI). This, in view 
of the station occurring on the day of the sermon, could be easily done, 
or in view of the shortly preceding or following station. 

2. The preacher might also profitably insert into his sermon occa- 
sional sketches of the life of the respective Saint of the station. These 
sketches might at times also exercise an influence on the formation of 
the entire sermon. (Compare, f.i., the liturgy of the Sexagesima and 
the statio ad S. Paulum; the third Sunday of Lent and the Statio ad 
S. Laurentium: The conflict of Christ — the stronger, with Satan who 
is strong. The conflict of the Christians, strong in Christ, with the 
powerful Satan and his imps. (Sketches of the martyrdom of St. Lau- 
rence: Compare also the prayer of St. Laurence on the ninth and 
tenth of August, etc.) 

After having passed through these vestibules of Lent (compare 
once more the historical investigations of § 18), let us enter into the 
real liturgy of Lent. Let us briefly consider the several Sundays 
with their weeks: These will furnish a variety of lights and of shadows, 
of seriousness and consolations, of a night of suffering and the 
dawning light of Easter. 

§ 25. First Sunday of Lent (" Invocabit ") 

Copare pp. 260-271 and esp. 302 sqq., 327 

Christ in conflict with Satan: Our Model. This is the Sunday 
of battle. Christ is humiliated, tempted, and attacked. In an 
immeasurable humiliation and a victorious exaltation Christ gives 
us an example and consolation (dark picture). 

A. Christ in conflict with Satan. The devil appears in the 
Gospel. There is a hell. There is a liar, a murderer of souls from 
the beginning, a traitor and a corrupter, a prince of this world. 
This truth, this fact is solemnly announced by the Gospel. (Gos- 
pel, Matt., c 4; compare the parallel narratives and their connec- 
tion in Grimm, "Leben Jesu," II. B., 174 fL, Lohmann, "Leben 
Jesu," Evangelienharmonie, Z. St.) Satan tries to find allied rebels 
among men. In Christ he finds none. Still he approaches Him 
with boundless impudence. 1 Christ humiliates Himself in an 

1 Satan tempts to disloyalty by a violation of the vocation of the Messiah [The 
bread-miracle, not in testimony of Christ's official activity, but only for Himself, 
for His own private necessity], to an attack of the Messianic vocation [a pre- 
sumptuous, ostentatious hurling down], to disloyalty to God Himself [adoration of 
Satan]. Moral-ascetic conception, p. 273 b. 



272 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



inexpressible manner, to show us that a conflict with Satan is 
absolutely necessary: serpens antiquus seducit . . . orbem. (Apoc. 
12: 9.) Adver sarins vester diabolus sicut leo rugiens circuit, quaerens 
quern devorat, cui resistite fortes in fide. (I Pet. 5 : 8.) Grand, in 
the midst of this dark picture, is the brilliant victory of Christ, 
who shows His contempt for Satan, banishes him, and does not 
yield him the slightest chance — abhors his fictitious reasons and 
unmasks his counterfeit goods. Inwardly inadmissible, He permits 
Satan to annoy Him outwardly in a most humiliating manner, to 
lead Him hither and thither, to carry Him swiftly through the air, 
to limit Him to his unbearable presence — and all this for our 
consolation. (Compare p. 327.) 

B. We — in conflict with Satan. The Gospel shows the great 
battlefield on which Satan, jointly with the rebels within us, de- 
clares war against the soul. But the Gospel also shows the right 
manner and the tactics of battle, in the example of the militant 
Christ Himself. The Epistle, moreover, presses the weapons into 
our hands. Thus our battle is: 

(a) A battle with the arms of Christ, per arma justitiae a dextris 
et a sinistris (Epistle) : above all 

(a) Grace is offered in this superabundant time of grace. 
The beginning of the Epistle admonishes us: ne in vacuum gratiam 
Dei recipiatis — ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis. 
The Church is anxious to fill all nations and souls with the joyful 
and mighty victorious consciousness that now, in the time of Lent, 
there are in the mass, in confession, in contrition, through fasting 
in the spirit of Lent, gigantic powers of grace at their disposal — 
aye, the entire militant, suffering, and victorious Christ Himself. 
(Compare the alphabetic index: grace.) Next: 

(JS) Prayer is presented as a weapon: tempore accepto exaudivi 
te et in die salutis adjuvi te. The prayer of this Lent is meant the 
prayer for a good issue of our conflict, now — in this Eastertide. 
(Compare the thoughts on the first Sunday of Advent, p. 179, V.) 
With a majestic solemnity in the Introit the Father promises 
Christ and the Christians to hear them; Invocabit me, et ego exau- 
diam eum: eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum: longitudine dierum 
replebo eum. The Gospel fulfils the promise made to Christ Him- 
self, but Easter morning will fulfil it still more. With a holy 
irony the psalm, cited by the devil, is explained in the Gradual 
and in the Tract, according to its genuine meaning, in favor of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 273 

Christ and of the Christians, for a victory in the battle of Christ 
and of the Christians: Angelis suis mandavit de te, etc. All things 
inspire the souls of those thus armed with courage and irresistible 
confidence: cadent a latere tuo mille et decern millia a dextris tuis: 
tibi autem non appropinqnabit. The Introit, the offertory, and the 
communion announce with a great flourish of trumpets the hope 
of the warfare under the General — Christ Jesus. (Compare p. 
481 sqq.) But this war and this battle is also: 

(b) A battle according to the example of Christ: (a) in general: 
through a quiet, contemptuous, and instantaneous dismissal of 
Satan, of his fictitious reasons and goods, (p. 327.) in par- 
ticular: it is a victorious battle: (aa) against the concupiscence 
of the eyes (third temptation, according to Matthew). (/3/3) against 
the concupiscence of the flesh (sensuality, first temptation, according 
to Matthew) ; and (a) against the pride of life (second temptation, 
according to Matthew). Though no interior temptation could 
possibly attack Jesus, still He gives us a grand example in the 
whole range of temptation. There is question of taking up the 
battle, of the defense of the citadel of the souls againt the com- 
bined enemies — the adversary from without — and the rebels 
from within. (Compare p. 104, 3.) There is question of casting 
out all these enemies, of liberating the citadel of the soul and of 
delivering it to Christ. For the particulars of this battle, the 
epistle offers a complete arsenal (grace — love — confidence in God 
in every vicissitude — fasting and labor) . Thus the first Sunday 
of Lent contains the whole program for the entire time of Lent, 
from which the preacher may draw abundant themes. (Compare 
§§ 31 and 32, especially p. 327 sqq.) 

The Sunday of conflict is followed by a week of conflict with 
Satan, with the world, and the personal "ego." The ferial offices 
of the first week of Lent also detennine the conflict, a decision 
for Christ. The Gospels present the image of Christ as judge 
at the end of time (Feria II), as judge and separator of the spirits 
already here below (Feria III), as a superior king (Feria IV), and as a 
saving Redeemer (Feria V and VI), Who proceeds to the mountain 
of transfiguration and of the law {Sabbatum). Let us detach our- 
selves from all that separates from Christ: battle with Satan and 
sin. The epistles and the offices of the ember-days fortify the 
signals of the battle of this hebdomada pnrgatka. The exalted 
person of Christ, Christ's example, and Christ's eternal truths 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



should impel us on to the battle. Under these grand view-points 
the entire ferial offices and ferial masses should be conceived. They 
were intended to strengthen and to emphasize the catechumenal 
instructions, but also to be a holy repetition and renewal for the 
entire congregation. The intention was to place, by all possible 
means, the person and the morality of Christ vividly in the very midst 
of the congregation. Within the several masses we often find the 
most astounding and touching combinations, often also close rela- 
tions to the Roman stational churches in which the divine services 
were occasionally celebrated. The combinations of the masses 
amongst themselves and with the Sundays, however, may only be 
sought under great view-points and concentrations, such as we 
have just indicated. Artificial explanations must be avoided. But 
the homilist will draw from the study and meditation of the ferial 
offices very rich profit, and enter deeply into the spirit of Lent. 
He may enrich his preaching activity with new enlivening thoughts 
and examples. (Compare herewith: Gueranger, " Ecclesiastical 
Year," V. vol.; Dippel, "Kirchenjahr" II. vol.; Die hi. Fasten- 
zeit) ; also below, p. 593 sqq.) 

The Quatuor tempora. In the beginning the Church celebrated what 
we call Ember-days (Quatuor tempora), three times in the year, in June, 
in September, and in December: at the same time the pagans celebrated 
in Rome the feasts of the seasons, to invoke the aid of the gods on the 
fruits of the earth: feriae messis in June, feriae Vindemialis in August or 
September, feriae sementinae in December — on the seed concealed in 
the soil. It is most probable that the Church supplanted these pagan 
popular feasts by corresponding Christian festivals. This was not done 
by the assumption of the pagan element into the Christian liturgy. 
But it was a wise and thoughtful use of the causa occasionalis. 1 As the 
pagan celebration of these times were only designated in general, but 
more definitely fixed by the priests, so also were the Christian feasts of 
the seasons, as the blessing seasons of nature (with petitions for God's 
blessing upon nature — and penance for the abuse of the natural gifts 
of God) movable, and they were therefore solemnly announced. We 
still possess such denunciationes jejuniorum quarti. (The counting of 
months began with March septimi et decimi mensis, wherein a fast is 
proclaimed for Wednesday and Friday, but for Saturday a fast and a 
"vigil at St. Peters," i.e., a nightwatch with prayer and reading, in the 
Vatican basilica.) These celebrations were afterwards fixed in certain 

1 Grisar, S. J., Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, I. B. n. 509, S. 768 ff. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 275 



weeks, and to the three existing ones a third was added in the first week 
of Lent. Gradually there was added to this Christian celebration of the 
blessing of the newly awakened and ripening life of nature also a celebration 
of the renewal and propagation of the supernatural life: the ordinations. 
Through the Bishops and the priests, who proceed from the sacrament 
of orders, the supernatural life is over and over again dispensed and 
guaranteed to the succeeding generations. In ancient times ordination, 
as is well known, mostly took place in December. Comparatively 
early it was transferred to the Quatuor tempora. In order to enhance 
the dignity of the character of the double feast, celebrations of stations 
in the more prominent basilicas of Rome were combined therewith." 
The selection and the sequence of the churches is very important. The 
beginning was made on Wednesday, with the esquiline Mother church 
of St. Mary Major, because it represented, as the second papal Cathe- 
dral, the distant Lateran — the seat of the Popes, in a convenient manner 
for the gathering of the people. Then (for Friday) the church of the 
Apostles — erected by Narses (in honor of SS. Philipp and James, and 
of all the other Apostles, after the model of the church of the Apostles 
in Constantinople) as a memorial church of the byzantine government — 
was distinguished by the gathering, as it had already been otherwise 
especially honored by the Popes. The final act, however, took place, 
in an appropriate manner, at the grave of the Holy Apostle (Peter), 
who, with the symbols of the keys, had received from Christ the fulness 
of spiritual power. The stations are still given in the just mentioned 
order in the ancient sacramentaries and in the present Roman missal. 1 
"With the rich and varied ceremonies of ordination the ceremonies of 
the solemn general baptism may be compared, in beauty of prayer and 
symbolical depth of actions, which take place in Rome during the "great 
night," i.e., in the night before Easter. As the new members of the com- 
munity arose from the waters of regeneration in the baptismal night 
(in the Lateran), so the Church obtained, in that other night, in St. 
Peter's for the new bearers of the hierarchical dignity and the dispensers 
of the mysteries of God, the supernatural character and the strength 
of grace." 2 (Compare p. 386 sqq.) 

It is very interesting to know that the present liturgy of the (Ember) 
Saturday of the first week of Lent still exhibits remarkable reminiscences 
of the "night in St. Peter's." It has still today its statio ad St. Petrum. 
We likewise find in the extended liturgy of the mass the whole Gospel 
as on the following second Sunday of Lent — the Transfiguration of 
Christ on the Mount, Matt., c. 17. The office of the night was pro- 
tracted into the morning. At times it was already Sunday when the 

1 Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, I. B. n. 505, p. 764 ff. 

2 Grisar, 1. c. n. 506, p. 765. 



276 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



celebration of the mass began. And then the Gospel of the Sunday was 
likewise sung. 1 The rays of the Transfiguration operated during this 
night in St. Peter's as a first Easter salute from afar. The newly or- 
dained also brought to the congregation a part of the Easter joy. They 
were destined to proclaim, in the middle of the night, amidst the con- 
flict and the temptations of the world, the splendid and illuminating 
law of the grace of Christ, to whom the lawgivers of the Old Law do 
homage in the Gospel, before whom the future lawgivers of the New 
Law are prostrate upon their faces, whom the Father Himself proclaims 
as the first Lawgiver and Saviour: Hie est filius mens dileetus, in quo 
mihi bene complacui: ipsum audite! The third and fourth lesson of the 
office also recall — besides the ordination rite — the sacerdotal dignity, 
idea, and prayer (lessons of the second Book of Machabees, c. 1) the 
sacerdotal power and blessing through God and from God (lesson of the 
Book of Wisdom: Eccles. 36). It is also remarkable that the station of 
the following second Sunday of Lent is celebrated in the small church 
of S. Maria in Dominica 2 (Navicella) on the southern declivity of the 
Coelian hill, not far from SS. John and Paul and St. Stefano rotondo. 
After the early morning had gathered an immense throng of people 
into St. Peter's for the celebration of the ordination, a smaller space 
was probably sufficient for a second celebration of the station on 
Sunday. In addition to the already mentioned separate ideas, all of the 
Ember-day offices contain the following fundamental ideas: 
(A) Consecration of the life of nature and especially: 

1. Prayer, for the blessing of God on nature (liturgical prayers of 
the masses of Wednesdays and Saturdays of all Ember-weeks). 

2. Penance, for the abuse of the gifts of nature (fasting). 

3. Consecration of nature itself to God: the firstling gifts of the 
Old Law — the gifts of nature for the liturgy : matter and quasi-matter 
for the sacraments and the sacramentals, natural symbols of the divine 
service, light, wax, branches of trees, etc. 

4. Blessings of God on nature. The extension of the blessing of 
Christ upon nature and culture. Ovid, Fast, i, V. 597 sqq. celebrates, 
in connection with the feriae sementinae in December and the prayers 
recited thereat by the Pontifex in poetic form, the peace which attends 
the government of Ceres : 

Bella diu tenner 0 viros, erat aptior ensis 
Vomere; credebat taurus arator equo. 
Sarcula cessaba?it, versique in pilaligones 
Factaque de astri pondere cassis erat. 

1 Also on the Saturday of the Ember-days of Advent, where, as on all Ember 
Saturdays, the statio is again in St. Peter's, the Gospel of the Sunday is also read. 

2 In Dominica — (the) Dominica church, which had a solemn sendee only on 
Sundays, possibly only on this Sunday. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 277 



Gratia dis domuique tuae: religata catenis 
Jam pridem nostro sub pede bella jacent. 
Su juga bos veniat, sub terras semen aratas 
Pax Cererem nutrit, pacts alumna Ceres. 

In a more exalted sense the lesson (Isaias, c. 2) of the Wednesday 
of the christianized December Ember-day tells us of the Christian bless- 
ing which extends to nature and its cultivation: Et ibunt populi multi 
et dicent: Venite et ascendamus ad montem Domini et ad domum Dei 
Jacob (the Church) et docebit vos vias suas et ambulabimus in semitis 
ejus . . . Et conflabunt gladios suos in vomeres et lanceas suas in fakes. 
Non levabit gens contra gentem gladium: nec exercebuntur proelium. 
Domus Jacob venite et ambulemus in lumine Dei Domini nostri. 1 What 
grand words of a universal walking of the nations in the spirit of the Lord 
and in obedience to the Church. What an expression of blessing of an 
immeasurable extent upon the innumerable fruits of nature and culti- 
vation, which sprang from such a union of religion with the life of the 
nations. The proof of the fulfilment is given by the history of culture, 
of science, of art, and of the social life of nations. 

(B) Consecration of the life of the supernatural. The ordinations of 
the Ember-days beget fruit. The bishops are in the full sense, and the 
priests in a certain sense, the fathers and generators of the supernatural 
life, through sacrifice and the sacraments. They are the preservers, the 
guardians, and renewers of this life for the spiritually living and dead. 
(The sacraments of the living and the dead.) This life descends through 
their ministration, from Christ in the Holy Ghost, to us. Of all this we 
are reminded by the liturgy of the Ember-weeks, with their ordinations 
and their stations in Mary Major and in the church of the Apostles and 
of St. Peter. 

Upon this back-ground the Ember-days of Lent, of Pentecost, and of 
Christmas mark their unique ideas of the season and feast. The Ember- 
days of Lent preach penance and a return to God through fasting, 
prayer, almsgiving, and a renewal of life. In an impressive manner the 
figures of the two great fasters — Moses and Elias — shine down upon 
us from Mt. Horeb. (Epistles of Feria IV of the first week of Lent.) 
The Law and the Prophets, but, above all, the sole and first Lawgiver 
and Redeemer — Christ Jesus calls us to a renewal of life through grace 
and the law on the long road to the Horeb of eternity. The week of 
Pentecost fills its Ember-days with Pentecostal joy, but also with the 
seriousness of Pentecost. The Bridegroom, Christ Jesus, is taken from 
us: through the power of the Holy Ghost we must battle for Him in 
His militant Church and bring sacrifices. The Ember-days of Advent 

1 One of the most striking applications of the liturgy with the glorification of the 
noble in nature through the supernatural. 



278 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



combine the thoughts of the seed concealed in the earth and its hope 
with the thought of the seed of Abraham, of the twig from the root of 
Jesse, of the messianic peace of religion and culture: Rorate coeli desuper 
et nubes pluant justum : aperiatur terra et germinet Salvatorem. (Com- 
pare the Introit and Epistle of Feria IV of the Advent Ember-days of 
the Statio ad S. Mariam Major em}) Still more clearly is this expressed 
in the ancient leonine sacramentary, of which the preface of the Ember- 
days of December sings: The divine seed descends, and whilst the fruits 
of the field nourish our temporal life, the more exalted seed becomes the 
food of souls unto immortality. Wheat, wine, and oil were yielded by 
the earth, but now the ineffable birth of Him approaches who yields 
eternal bread to the sons of men in His graciousness. 1 (Compare 
p. 276 A.) 

We have collected these thoughts here in order to animate the homi- 
list to preach occasionally on the significance of the Ember-days, which 
are being constantly published to the people and on which, in many 
dioceses, special prayers for good priests are recited. Why should not 
an instruction on the Ember-days be given from time to time before the 
autumnal Ember-days or on the first Sunday of Lent or on the second 
Sunday of Advent? The concurring fast-days would be the more readily 
and cheerfully observed if the people knew their deep significance and 
edifying history. The explanation of the causa occasionalis given to 
the more cultured, would also be of an apologetic value against the 
ridiculous objection: " Paganism combined with Christian worship." 
Surely there is found here much that is common with the human, much 
that is humanly noble, aye, even a necessity of the humanly natural 
heart. The grandest and most exalted of our divine service is the 
supernatural, which glorifies all that is human in a Christian manner. 

§ 26. The Second Sunday of Lent. ("Reminiscere") 

Christ the Lawgiver, for us in Our Conflict 

The second Sunday leads to the Mount of Transfiguration, 
and unfolds a grand panorama. Christ, upon the Mount, trans- 
figured and exalted, is our Lawgiver, who also transfigures and 
exalts us by His grace and His law. (Compare p. 273 sqq., 278.) 
The Sunday shows: 

A. The Transfigured Lawgiver Himself 

1. To Him, the Lawgiver, the Old Law pays homage. Moses, 
who gave the law, which was to educate the people for Christ — 
1 Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, I. B. n. 509 p. 771. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 279 



directs us to Him : This is the expected Lawgiver. Elias, as repre- 
sentative of the prophets, who explained the law and emphasized 
it and who promised the end of the law — the Messiah — announces 
today solemnly: This is the promised Redeemer. But Moses and 
Elias do not only announce the Lawgiver, but also the Redeemer. In 
the midst of His glory they speak to Christ of His departure from 
Jerusalem — i.e., of His Passion. (Compare the parallel narratives 
of the Gospels, especially Luke 9: 31.) 

2. To Him — the Lawgiver, the New Testament pays homage. 
Peter, James, and John, the foundation stones of the Church, and 
especially Peter, who eight days before had confessed the divinity 
of Christ, and was proclaimed by Christ His representative — the 
Rock of the Church — paid homage to the Son of God, the 
Lawgiver, and the Redeemer. 

3. Him, the Lawgiver, the Heavenly Father proclaims: Hie 
est filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui, ipsum audite. 
(Compare p. 275.) The Sunday announces: 

B. His Law — which Transfigures Us 

The Apostle St. Paul speaks in a glowing manner, in the Epistle, 
of the law announced to us through the Church, which goes back 
entirely to Christ. (I Thess., c. 4.) Scitis enim, quae praecepta 
dederim vobis per Dominum Jesum. This law shows us how the 
grace received or to be received should operate in us. It is the law 
of grace, in a word, it is grace itself and its ways. (See the Pauline 
letters, St. Thomas and Moral Theology de lege Novi Testamenti, 
also p. 540.) The law is for us, in other words, it is the will of 
God and therefore our salvation and transfiguration : haec est voluntas 
Dei, sanctificatio vestra. From this glorious law the Apostle selects 
two great precepts, which especially transfigure our being and 
our action: 

(a) Purity (pp. 719-721). 

(b) Justice. (See the Epistle, compare pp. 279, 807.) 

The second Sunday of Lent is the Sunday of the law that enlightens, 
and of the examination of the consciences in regard to the law. (See 
below: Lenten sermons, p. 313 sqq., and pp. 330, 331, 332 V.) 

The transfiguration of Christ may also be depicted, on account 
of the intimate connection of law and of grace, as the image of the 
transfiguring, sanctifying grace. We become (a) pure — white as 
snow, from sin; (6) bright as the sun — through supernatural 



280 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



beauty and power from above: new beings; (c) beloved sons of 
God, in whom the Father is well pleased. (Compare the Gospel; 
also above, pp. 62, 63, 87, 772: Sketches.) 

In the ferial offices the exalted image of Christ appears again 
with His exalted law: two new sketches are again introduced; serious 
thoughts of the suffering Redeemer, which were already expressed 
on Sunday in the midst of the transfiguration, and images of the 
return of the sinners to the Redeemer and also of the condem- 
nation of the impenitent sinners by the Judge. 

Types of the Old Testament constantly serve as settings for 
pictures of the New Testament. Their fundamental thoughts are: 
supernatural grace and redemption are free gifts of God — not 
confined to certain nations and persons. The history of Jacob 
and of the blessing of the firstling (which Esau, with God's per- 
mission and disposition, had granted him with the right of primo- 
geniture) takes up this thought, and several parables of this week 
develop it more fully: the work of redemption is not of our merit, 
but of the grace and the blessing of the first-born — Christ Jesus, 
the first-born among many brethren. God wills that all men be 
saved. As progenitor, bearer, leader, and priest of the sacred revela- 
tion He ordains whom He will. But we must co-operate very 
energetically with the free gift and grace, as the law and its explana- 
tion in the Gospels and Epistles demand. Conscience, therefore, 
must be measured and examined according to the law. (Compare 
pp. 313, 331, 322, " Examination of Conscience.") 

The Sunday and the week are a combination of the via purga- 
tiva and illuminativa. (Ps. 33: 6.) (See pp. 595-597.) 

§ 27. The Third Sunday of Lent. ("Oculi") 

Christ in Conflict with Satan — the Strong 

Our stronger and victorious Redeemer of the world. The third 
Sunday exhibits again a dark picture : 77 is the Sunday of the casting 
out of Satan through Christ, by baptism and penance in Christ. Christ 
appears humiliated: He is engaged in a gigantic conflict with the 
strong Satan and his whole kingdom, but He conquers as the 
stronger. (Gospel, Luke 11.) If Christ appeared on the first 
Sunday as a personal victor over Satan, He now appears as the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 281 



victor of the world over Satan and his kingdom. Christ who casts 
out Satan issues the battle-cry of Lent: Cast Satan completely 
from the vestibule of the soul — through the power of Christ. 

A. The casting out of Satan. The Gospel of the casting out of 
the dumb devil (Luke, c. n) emphasizes the casting out of the 
strong Satan and his reign, through Christ the stronger, in general 
(pp. 280 and 298 sqq.). 

B. The manner and the mode of this casting out of Satan. The 
citadel of the soul and its vestibule are freed from the strong con- 
trol of Satan if we cast out the several sins, especially the mortal 
sins and our characteristic faults (through penance and amendment 
of life). This is taught by the Epistle. Thus the stronger Christ 
takes from the strong Satan his entire armory and arsenal. (See 
Epistle: Ephes., c. 5, and §§ 31 and 32: " Sermons" on confession, 
especially pp. 329 sqq., 330, 331, 332.) 

C. The prevention of Satan's return. The latter part of the 
Gospel admonishes those who are converted through baptism or 
penance to prevent, at all cost, the return of Satan: (a) by a sys- 
tematic declaration for Christ: Qui non est mecum, contra me est, 
et qui non colligit mecum, dispergit; (b) by abandoning an indifferent 
and unprincipled or careless life, in order that the evil and impure 
spirit and his imps may never find the soul decked and prepared 
for them (invenit scopis mundatam et ornatam), and through the 
relapse of the sinner take a renewed and stronger possession thereof. 
(Compare p. 331, D.; also p. 104, 3.) 

If thus, through Christ — the stronger, we cast out Satan — 
the strong, then we will also become animated for Christ, for His 
Mother and for His word, as was the woman mentioned at the end 
*of the Gospel. Through the paschal sacraments there will be ful- 
filled in us what is joyfully announced in the communio of the mass: 
Passer sibi invenit domum . . . ego altar ia tua, Domine virtutum . . . 
beati qui habitant in domo tua . . . and in our lives the words of 
the Introit may be verified: Oculi mei semper ad Dominum. . . . 
It is the Sunday and the week of the ancient Christian scrutiny — ■ 
of the examination for admission to baptism and penance. For 
us it is the Sunday of penance, of confession: the battle was pro- 
claimed (I. Sunday) — the law was solemnly announced — the 
banner of Satan is sinking — the ensign of Christ floats victoriously 
over His own (II. Sunday); up! therefore, into His kingdom 
through (baptism) penance and its sacrament, whilst we cast out 



282 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Satan — the strong, through Christ — the stronger. (See below, 
§§ 31, 32: Confession, esp. p. 308 sqq., 331 sqq.) 

The ferial offices of this week take up the same thought of scrutiny 
for baptism and confession. Opposed to penance (confession) is 
proud self-justification. Therefore, Nazareth could not be saved. 
(Gospel of Feria II.) Therefore so many in Israel, in the days of 
Elias and Eliseus, were not partakers of the redemption and sal- 
vation — but only the humble widow of Sarepta and Naaman, the 
Syrian, after he had leveled the final hills of pride. (Epistle of 
Feria II.) These were saved. Only the poor in spirit can cast 
out Satan, who is strong. Only those who subject themselves to 
the humble precept of baptism, penance, and confession, can cleanse 
themselves spiritually. Compare with this thought the mass of 
Feria II, post Dom. Ill, Quadrag. During the whole week the 
image of Christ accompanies us, He promises the power of for- 
giveness of sins, but He also demands from us pardon and forgive- 
ness for our fellow-men; He is not content with an apparent, 
Pharisaical conversion, which regards small things, but transgresses 
great commandments of God, which strains at flies and swallows 
camels; but He demands the casting out of Satan from the inmost 
heart: de corde exeunt cogitationes malae, homicidia, adulter ia, for- 
nicationes, furta, falsa testimonia, blasphemiae. Haec sunt, quae 
coinquinant hominem. What a splendid contribution to the doc- 
trine on confession. (Compare the Gospel of Feria IV.) But then 
Christ will appear to us as a merciful physician. Christ announces 
Himself in a most lovely manner on Feria V, in the church of the 
station of the holy physicians, SS. Cosmas and Damian, as our 
physician in the Gospel, by curing the mother-in-law of Peter, 
and on the eve of the Sabbath He becomes — until late in the 
night upon the doorstep of the house of Simon — physician of all 
the corporeally and spiritually sick of Capharnaum. This is the 
evening of Capharnaum on which the grand physician — Christ 
Jesus heals, until late in the night, all and every one (singulis manus 
imponens) before the threshold of the house of His principal Apostle. 
A grand image of the Catholic Church, in which Christ saves all 
simply through the paschal sacraments. 1 ) (See p. 506.) The pic- 

1 The statio ad SS. Cosmam et Damianum. For an incitement to similar work, 
we will give here a digression on the interesting connection of the liturgy with the 
church of the station. We will first give the account of Father Grisar (Geschichte 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 283 



ture of the physician is emphasized by the Gospel also of Feria VI 
and of the Sabbatum, where Jesus heals, as mentioned in the Gos- 
pels (John, c. 4, and John, c. 8), the Samaritan woman and the 
adultress. The Epistle of these two last week-days furnish for 
the Gospel, as it were, a golden background upon which the funda- 
mental thoughts thereof are printed in more brilliant colors. 

In the Epistle of Friday, Moses and Aaron prostrate upon the 
ground of the Tabernacle, in the waterless land of the desert, and 

Roms., etc., n. 162-165), and then connect therewith our own reflections. We must 
confess, to our great joy, that our former surmises, founded upon the liturgical forms, 
have been fully sustained by these archeological testimonies. 

Pope Felix IV (526-530) received, under the government of the king of the Goths 
Amalasumtha, which was favorable to the Catholics, two pagan buildings in the 
Forum, as presents. He had asked for these in order to change them into a sanctu- 
ary of the two mentioned Cilician martyrs: Cosmas and Damian (who, in 303, 
suffered the death of martyrs under Diocletian) (n. 162). "The sanctuary of SS. 
Cosmas and Damian on the Sacra Via — does not merely afford a view into the 
Roman Christian art of those years, but also into the characteristics of the worship 
and liturgy. It is justifiable to consider these outlines of the rising Christian life 
more closely. The still existing inscription of Felix IV., which looks down from the 
mosaic in large golden letters, announces that this Aula Dei, in its resplendent marble 
ornamentation, is now more gloriously dedicated through the light of faith, to the 
two physicians, who had become martyrs, and became to the people a sure hope of 
salvation. (Compare Grisar, Analecta Romana 1: 8, 1; De Rossi, Inscriptiones 
Christianae, II, 1, pp. 71, 134, 152; Duchesne Liber Pontificalis 1: 280. It says in 
verse 3: Martyribus medicis populo spes certa salutis venit, etc.) In the Orient the 
two martyrs — Cosmas and Damian — were long ago extensively honored as effective 
intercessors with God in temporal needs, especially in diseases. It is narrated that, 
whilst still alive, they graciously aided the sick as physicians and healed them also 
through the supernatural power of their prayers and thus, from all parts, people 
hastened to the graves of these gratuitous helpers — Anargyri." (This was their 
Greek title of honor.) Astonishing miracles are said to have been performed at 
their graves, through their intercession. (Acta SS. boll. VII. Septembris 27, p. 428.) 

The Church has taught, at all times, that the Lord, who Himself taught us to 
pray for our daily bread, also readily hears the wishes for help when presented to 
Him through the invocation of the Saints. She has met these demands of the human 
heart, by bringing to an intimate expression, through the doctrine of the invocation 
of the Saints, the communion of the terrestrial association of the faithful with the 
blessed who are in glory. 

The close intercourse with the Orient brought both the intercession of these saints 
and their relics to Rome. Pope Symmachus even had dedicated to them, in the 
city, an oratory near the esquilinean basilica of St. Mary (Liber Pont. I: 262, Sym- 
machus, n. 80). Their names were assumed into the canon of the liturgical sacrifice: 
they are the last saints who have been honored with this dignity. Besides these 
Orientals there is found in this respective place of the canon of the mass, besides the 
Apostles and the martyrs of the Roman church, only the African Cyprianus. Africa 
and the Orient are represented as an indication of the universality of the Roman 
Church. (Grisar, Geschichte Roms. etc., n. 164, p. 187.) 

Let us also consider the relations of the liturgy of the mass of the feast and espe- 



284 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



call upon the Lord: A peri eis thesaurum tuum: fontem aquae vivae. 
And semi-involuntarily, Moses strikes the rock and water flows 
therefrom in a miraculous manner. 

But in the Gospel, the Salvator Mundi speaks to the woman 
at Jacob's well, of the living waters of grace, and He longs to dis- 
pense this water through the paschal sacraments. (Compare the 
communio of the mass) full of love and longing: aqua quam ego 
dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam. In the 
Epistle of Saturday Daniel saves the moral Susanna (Dan., c. 13) 
— in the Gospel Jesus saves the guilty but penitent adulteress. 
The preacher could make use of such vivid pictures, with their 

daily of the Lenten station of Thursday of the third week of Lent, with the station 
church. The ancient mass of the feast of SS. Cosmas and Damian contains, in the 
Introit, these biblical words: "The wisdom of the saints shall be glorified by the 
nations." According to all probability it is the first mass-formulary which was 
composed for the dedication of the new church of the Forum. The text: "The 
wisdom of the saints," however, may have been selected for the sake of the praise of 
the two wise and holy physicians. The deacon read then, in the recitation of the 
Gospel of the same mass, with unmistakable reference to the miracles wrought by 
SS. Cosmas and Damian, the words of St. Luke: "A power went forth from Him 
and healed all." The text has reference to Christ, to whom, as is said in the same 
Gospel, the help-seeking crowds of the Jewish cities and of Tyre and Sidon flocked. 
At that time it was a popular custom of the liturgy to apply the sacred text by point- 
ing to the various objects of the devotion. In this case it was intended to point out, 
through the text, that the healing power of Christ, in a certain manner, also proceeded 
from the saints, whereas the real dispenser was Christ Himself. To Him, is therefore, 
also praise offered for His help — in the Gradual of the mass and this again in bibli- 
cal words: "He has delivered them out of all their troubles. . . . and He will save 
the humble of spirit." The old liturgical forms, which originated in those centuries, 
contain often still more remarkable allusions, with the aid of biblical texts. Since the 
language of the liturgy was the then still generally understood popular language, 
such texts and their applications served to nourish devotion and the confidence of 
the least of those gathered together as well as of the enlightened faith of the cul- 
tured. (Sapientiam ipsorum {Sanctorum) narrent popnli. et land em (laudes) eorum 
nuntiet ecclesia (Eccli. 44 : 15). Virtus de Mo exibat et sanabat omnes (Luc. 6 : 19). 
Ex omnibus tribulationibus eorum liber avit eos. (Ps. 33 : 18.) 

The original formularies were sustained, with a marvelous stability, in the sacra- 
mentary and later missals of the Roman church. Even today, the celebrant of the 
mass of September 27, the feast of the two holy physicians, reads the mass 
formulary with the quoted texts, which was once merely arranged for the church of 
the Roman Forum. Aye, the holy mass, beginning with the words: Sapientiam 
Sanctorum, was from earliest days, applied as a general liturgical form to the masses 
of martyrs in the plural number {commune plurimorum martyrum). Thus the ap- 
parently seldom circumstance explains itself, that the Introit of all these martyr- 
masses praises "wisdom," which was formerly only praised in reference to the two 
holy physicians. Thus alone is also the text of the Gospel of this general formulary 
explained, which treats mainly of the Saints of Christ. 

For the designation of the ancient liturgical language we might add that in the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 285 



inexhaustible and varied details, most profitably for sermons and 
instructions on confession as examples and subjects for exegesis. 
If, moreover, the homilist would show that the Church presents, 
precisely at this time, these pictures in the liturgy to our souls, 
they would become doubly fruitful. A selection of the wealth of 
this week, but faintly indicated here, would make many unwar- 
ranted or poorly warranted story, which is now and then narrated, 
and lead the hearers, along solid and secure paths, to the 
mysteries of Easter. 

The typical setting of the third Sunday and of the third week 
of Lent forms the history of the Egyptian Joseph who, in spite 

mass of the station for the Thursday after the third Sunday of Lent, inserted by 
Gregory II (715-731), the names of our two saints are expressed in the oration, and it 
emphasizes "the indescribable great help" which they afforded the Christian people. 
It must be remembered that for that day, for the celebration of the stations among 
the Roman churches, that of SS. Cosmas and Damian was selected. Therefore, the 
Gospel of this mass contains the paragraph on the miraculous cure of the fever- 
stricken mother-in-law of Peter. And if, finally, the priest implores in the Post- 
communio the "surely expected help" of the saints, then this expression sounds like 
a verbal echo from the inscription of Felix IV, under the mosaic picture of the church 
of SS. Cosmas and Damian, where "the certain hope of help," which was given to 
the people through the saints, is celebrated. Prayer, the raising of the heart to God, 
at that time loved simplicity of language, simply because it is the elevation of the 
heart and not of the mind. (Compare Liber Pont. 1: 432, Gregory II, n. 182, and 
Feria V post Dom. Ill Quadrag., oratio: Magnificet te, Domine, sanctorum tuorum 
Cosmae et Damiani beata solemnitas, qua et illis gloriam sempitemam et opem nobis 
inejjabili providentia contulisti. Per Dominum, etc. Postcommunio : Sit nobis, 
Domine sacramenti tut certa salvatio quae cum beatorum martyrum tuorum Cosmae et 
Damiani meritis imploratur. Per Dominum, etc.) (Grisar, I, n. 164.) 

The impression of the liturgy, with its significant relations to the basilica, was, 
for the Christians who assisted at the celebration, also augmented by the grand 
mosaic work of Felix IV (526-530), "which gazes down upon the Christian throng 
with an exalted earnestness." Even today no visitor in Rome "will look thought- 
fully upon this inestimable, now almost fourteen hundred years old and almost com- 
pletely preserved work of art, without becoming aware of the impression which it 
must have made upon the pious faithful Christians of those days! (Grisar, I. B. 
n. 163, p. 184.) It has not yet those stiff byzantine lines, like many later grand 
mosaic pictures; it carries within its majestic figures a reflexion of the grandeur of 
antique art, but spiritualized by the super-terrestrial ideas of religion. (Grisar, LB., 
etc.) In the apsis, before a deep-blue ground, Christ stands on colored clouds with 
golden linings as if within the halo of a rainbow of glorious transformation, serious 
and dignified, with divine superiority, commanding and inviting at the same time, 
as physician of humanity and as its judge. He elevates the right hand impressively 
with the mien of a teacher, of a Saviour, and a remunerator. In the left He holds 
the roll of the Gospel. The head is surrounded with pure gold of transfiguration, 
whilst the golden and yellow garment of antique Roman form drops in grandiose 
folds. At His feet flows the river Jordan, the river of baptism of life and of grace. 
In the circle of the outlines the twelve lambs pass — the Apostles or the faithful of 



286 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of his innocence, apparently weak, persecuted, sold, and impris- 
oned — conquers; as the stronger, in opposition to all the strong 
who were his enemies, he becomes the redeemer of his people. 
Through him, the innocent, God directs all things toward the best. 
Jesus, apparently weak, persecuted, sold, imprisoned, and dying 
amidst suffering, conquers, precisely through this His suffering, 
as the stronger over His strong enemies — as the Redeemer of 
the world. In opposition to the personal Satan, the father of lies, 
the unclean spirit, the murderer of souls from the beginning, and 
in opposition to his kingdom into which Satan draws men — the 
innocence, the purity, and the chastity of Joseph shine forth, and 

the cities of Jerusalem and of Bethlehem — on both sides of the Lamb of God, which 
stands in the midst upon a hill surrounded by a golden border. From the hill gush 
forth the four mystical streams of Paradise. The two saints, Cosmas and Damian, 
approach Christ on the picture — in full light and carrying their crowns, the two 
truly wise physicians approach eternal wisdom and the divine physician who healed 
and consecrated their souls in martyrdom. On both sides of the image of Christ 
they are presented by the Apostles Peter and Paul, their protectors, to Christ. On 
the right Peter leads the crown-bearing Cosmas; on the left Paul conducts St. Damian 
to Christ. The figures of the Apostles are greater and more majestic than those of 
the two physicians, who, like the figures of St. Theodor and Pope Felix IV, in somber 
darkness but penetrated by a spirit of mysterious love, look down into the temple 
with an expression of a Christian heroic spirit. All is surmounted by the elevated 
Christ, upon whose grandiose image the gaze constantly returns. The entire scene 
is enclosed by two large palm trees. Upon a prominent branch of the one a phoenix 
swings himself in a nimbus of rays. It typifies renewed life. From the top of the 
picture the hand of God appearing from the heavens, once upon a time, held over 
Christ the crown of glory and of victory. Above this and outside of the shell of the 
apsis, is built the city of the blessed, into which the two martyrs have entered in 
apocalyptic glory. Seven mysterious candelabra surround the Lamb of God; four 
angels in classical and bright forms adore it. The four symbols of the four Gospels 
here announce that this Lamb of God hath brought truth, wisdom, redemption, and 
salvation to the world. Farther down, enveloped in white garments and presenting 
crowns appear, united with angels and evangelists in divine praise, the elders of the 
mysterious revelation. Let us unite the entire impression of this grandiose and 
mysterious world of figures with the one conceived through the liturgy of the Thurs- 
day of Lent, which since the days of Gregory II (705-731) is celebrated in this church. 
The vestibule of the church, once that of the temple of Romulus, which leans against 
the registration building, opened onto the Forum, whose entire and still grand, but 
at the same time outlived splendor, lies immediately at the threshold of this quiet 
sanctuary. The entire period of that time and the misfortune of Rome especially 
tried to force an entrance into another world and into another kingdom. Then 
the deacon announces the Gospel of the great physician Christ Jesus. (Compare the 
Gospel of the day, Luke 4, and above the text in the house of Simon, before whose door- 
steps, at the sunset of the Sabbath, all the sick of Capharnaum are gathered, as before 
the physician who could cure them all. . . . The picture of the principal Apostles 
in the shell might remind tired and sick Rome that the house of Simon is already 
erected within its walls; the pictures of the wise physicians, Cosmas and Damian, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 287 



the absolute purity of Him whom no one can convict of sin. 
(Compare the lessons of the second nocturn of the third Sunday 
of Lent.) 

§28. Fourth Sunday of Lent. ("Laetare") 

Christ — our Host after the Conflict 

Behold a bright picture! Christ is exalted: He appears as a 
marvelous host. It is the Sunday of the paschal feast, of com- 
munion — of the manifestation of Christ in us. The Sunday is 
joined to the previous week, it finishes and emphasizes the idea 
thereof. A second joyful Easter ray breaks through it and floods 

however, invited all the sick, the heavily laden and the oppressed to the threshold 
of Simon, i.e., into the Church of Christ and to Christ Himself, who is Redeemer 
and physician, the alpha and the omega — and who, in His divine glory, directs the 
catechumens who have entered into the mansions of the Father which He has pre- 
pared for us and the shimmering mosaics of which cast their rays upon the searching 
eye. "In this hall, so near the greatest theater of the grandest pomp of the world, 
before the doors of which the greatest conquerors of down-trodden countries had 
passed in triumph, the stern and the exalted judge of the world found, in this mosaic 
picture, a worthy spot. He reminds us of that seriousness, aye, we might say, of 
that terror, with which the vanquished Roman world, in as far as it conceived its 
lot, hastened to the feet of the punishing and the remunerating Saviour of the world. 
(Grisar, I. B., n. 163, p. 185; see for the whole matter Grisar, 1. c. and Gsell-Fels, 
Rom. S. 307 ff.) But that these grand pragmatics, which the basilica and its Lenten 
liturgy announce, does not merely effect a grand exterior magnificence, but is in- 
tended to penetrate into a saving, redeeming, transforming, and regenerating manner 
deep into the inner soul — therefore the Epistle admonishes us, in vivid accents: 
Nolite confidere in verbis mendacii dicentes: Tern plum Domini, templum Domini, 
fern plum Domini est. Quoniam si bene direxeritis vias vestras et studia vestra; si 
feceritis judicium inter virum et proximum ejus, advenae, et pupillo et viduae non feceri- 
tis calumnium . . . et post deos alienos non ambulaveritis in malum vosmetipsis: 
habitabo vobiscum in loco isto quern dedi patribus vestris a saeculo et usque in saeculum : 
ait Dominus omnipotens. 

We have inserted this rather long digression in order to unfold, in a manner, by 
an example the grand latent homiletics of the liturgy of Lent and of the stations. 
The explanation of such a prominent critical investigator as Grisar (Geschichte Roms 
und der Paepste, n. 162-165, p. 183-188) will protect the fundamental ideas of our 
development sufnciently against the objection of a purely arbitrary interpretation. 
If the assembly of the catechumens, and the Christians of later Roman times were 
moved to the one or other trend of the described circle of thoughts by the station of 
the Thursday of the third week of Lent and celebrated here the sacred mysteries, 
then it could recite with perfect truth the Post-communio of the mass of the station: 
Sit nobis Domiyie, sacramenti tui certa salvatio, quae cum beatorum tuorum martyrum 
Cosmae et Damiani meritis imploratur. The collecta at SS. Cosmas and Damian was, 
without doubt, the grandest antithesis that possibly could be imagined, to the gather- 
ing of the pagan physicians, who formerly assembled likewise upon this spot of the 
Forum. 



2 88 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the Sunday with a festive light: Laetare Jerusalem et conventum 
facite ornnes qui diligitis earn: gaudete cum laetitia. (Introit.) 
Christ appears in the Gospel as the host in the multiplication of 
the Bread of Eastertide: erat autem proximum pascha, dies festus 
Judaeorum. (Ev. Joan. 6.) This multiplication of Bread imme- 
diately preceded the promise of the sacrament of the Altar, and 
is most closely connected with it. It was wrought one year before 
the Last paschal Supper, and points emphatically to the great 
Thursday. Driven from Jerusalem by His enemies Christ cele- 
brates, in His own manner, a paschal feast, and announces imme- 
diately thereafter, in a grand paschal address, the paschal banquet 
of the New Testament. He does not yet wish to celebrate the 
Bloody Sacrifice of Easter. His hour is not yet come. Therefore 
He celebrates, in Galilee, His own feast in order to escape His 
enemies, who are already prepared to attack Him in a bloody man- 
ner. He speaks in a mysterious manner in Capharnaum, on the 
day after His miraculous multiplication of the bread, of His immi- 
nent sacrificial death, and of its unbloody renewal — and of its 
most beautiful and glorified fruit, of the sacrament of the Altar. 
The scientific exegesis itself — which shows the astounding con- 
nection between the first multiplication of bread and the miracu- 
lous walking on the sea during the following night, and of the 
address of Jesus on His presence in the sacrament of the Altar 
(Compare Grimm, "Leben Jesu," B. III., Kap. 13, S., 455 ff.) — 
points out to us clearly the intention of the Church in having read 
for us today a portion of the sixth chapter of St. John. Christ 
appears in the light of the catechetical instruction of Capharnaum, 
which He gave on the day after the multiplication of the bread, 
as a much more glorious and transformed supernatural host — in the 
miraculous multiplication of the paschal communion. This idea fits 
marvelously into the entire connection of the liturgy of the Sunday. 
I. Christ frees His own. 

1. Moses delivered Israel out of the bondage of Egypt. He is the 
preparatory deliverer. (Compare the lessons and responses of the 
first and the second nocturn.) 

2. Christ delivers the new Israel from the bondage of Satan, of 
falsehood and of sin. Christ is the true deliverer 

(a) by His death (compare the end of the Epistle: Qua liber- 
tate Christus nos liberavit); 

(b) by His victory over Satan, by the victory of the stronger 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 289 



over the strong — precisely through this death of Christ, and like- 
wise through the baptism and the penance of individual men, who 
are crucified with Christ and buried with Him (compare the last 
week) ; 

(c) by the foundation of His free Church, which is no slave 
but a free, sovereign daughter of God: non sumus ancillae filii, 
sed liber ae. (Compare the end of the Epistle, Gal., c. 4.) 

II. Christ leads those who are invited to the banquet. The Gospel 
of the miraculous multiplication of the bread (John, c. 6), in con- 
nection with the nocturnal walking of Jesus on the sea and the 
great address at Capharnaum, points to the sacrament of the 
Altar — the great banquet of Christ, to which He invites all who 
have secured for themselves the wedding garment through bap- 
tism or by penance. The latent fundamental thoughts are these: 
Christ delivers to us, as it were, His Easter address: I am the 
great Host. I can give miraculous bread. (The multiplication of 
the bread.) I can be present in a miraculous manner. (The walk- 
ing on the sea of the following night.) I will give you a more 
miraculous bread than I gave you yesterday evening. I can be 
more miraculously present than I was last night. (Address in 
Capharnaum, the fundamental thoughts of which we are here 
giving.) I will give you a more miraculous Bread than the manna: 
I will give you the real Bread that came down from Heaven, the 
true Bread of life. I am the Bread of Heaven, the real Bread of 
life. I, the Son of man, the son of the carpenter, will give you the 
Bread of Heaven, the Bread of life. I, the Son of God, whom the 
Father has sealed, Who carries the seal and the image of the Father 
within Himself, Who has the life of the Father within Himself, Who 
came down from heaven and Who will ascend into heaven — I 
will give you this Bread from Heaven, I am this Bread of life. 
My Flesh and my Blood are this Bread from Heaven. My Flesh 
and Blood, which I will offer as a sacrifice, is the Bread of life. 
My Flesh and Blood, my humanity, but not dead and separated 
from Me — but united with the divinity and glorified through 
the divinity, is this Bread of life. (The sacrament of the Altar, 
the real Body and the real Blood of Jesus Christ, truly, really, and 
substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine, 
Christ Jesus, present under the appearances with His Flesh and 
Blood, with Body and soul, with divinity and humanity — is this 
Bread of life — is this Bread from Heaven.) In this Bread of life 



2go HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



you must believe — you — Jews, disciples, Apostles, you Christians, 
for the sake of the Son of God who reveals this. This Bread of 
life you must eat, in order that the second life, the supernatural 
life, may abide in you and you live for My sake. If you eat not 
this Bread you will revert into the kingdom of Satan, from which 
I have delivered you. (Compare the whole sixth chapter of the 
Gospel of St. John, of which we have here merely sketched the ris- 
ing fundamental thoughts more fully for a homiletic use, based 
upon a scientific exegesis.) In the just indicated manner the cen- 
tral thoughts might be thematically and clearly evolved into a dog- 
matic-exegetic sermon, and the more difficult passages might be 
popularized, though the text should be conveniently interspersed. 
The just mentioned conception shows plainly that the " Bread of 
Life," throughout the whole chapter, is the same concept more 
accentuated and elucidated. 

We are firmly convinced that this Sunday is intended to put 
the paschal communion into the focus of the liturgy. Even the 
literal sense of the gospel and its strictly scientific traceable con- 
nection with the address of Capharnaum point to this. The 
preacher should therefore very often present Christ as the Paschal 
Host to the congregation — and preach on the promise of the 
sacrament of the Altar, or on the institution of the same, on faith 
in this sacrament, on preparation for the same, on its reception, 
its fruits, in fact — on the Eucharistic Christ. According to the 
ancient Christian conception these were all so many rays of Easter, 
which were still somewhat obscure to the catechumen and concealed 
under an image, but to the Christian they pointed plainly and 
clearly to Easter and to Easter communion. 

The ferial offices of this week depict, with great force, the sub- 
limity of the Son of God, whom we have received and with whom 
all should be united. This sublimity appears from His exalted 
addresses (compare the Gospel of Feria III, and of the Sabbatum) 
and from His most exalted deeds: The clearing of the temple (Gos- 
pel of Feria II), the raising from the dead of the young man of 
Nairn (Gospel of Feria V), and of Lazarus (Feria VI). The miracles 
of Christ appear in the masses mentioned upon the background of 
the miracles of Eliseus and of Elias (see the Epistles), which, how- 
ever, infinitely excel these, because performed by His own power 
and not wrung from God in a painstaking manner. The nearer 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 291 

we approach Passion-tide, the mightier, the more forcibly and 
impressively is the divinity of Christ accentuated — in order that the 
Passion may lead no one astray, and that all may comprehend the 
wisdom and the power of His divinity. But, in the middle of 
the week, on Feria IV, one of the most important stations is held 
in Rome in the basilica of St. Paul, the converted Apostle of faith 
and of grace — both on account of the dignity of the church and 
its patron and an account of the necessary condition of space. On 
this day occurred one of the most important great scrutinies and the 
beginning of the preparatory baptismal ceremonies with the traditio sym- 
bolic the beginning of the gospels and of the "Our Father. " After 
the catechumens had been introduced into the religion, they were 
to receive the sacred formularies and documents thereof, in order 
that through them the instruction and education might become 
clearer and more emphasized. After the first solemn reception as 
full catechumens and the introductory ceremonies, the competent 
ones were again obliged to leave the basilica, but the choir sang 
the Introit, which is still today read in the ferial mass : Cum sanc- 
tificatus fuero in vobis, congregabo vos de universis terris et ejfundam 
super vos aquam mundam et mundabimini ab omnibus iniquitatibus 
vestris et dabo vobis Spiritum novum. (Ezek., c. 26.) The cate- 
chumens, who were recalled with their sponsors into the basilica, 
were now, after the collect which implores fruits of fasting, signed 
with the sign of the cross by the sponsors who accompanied them. 
The acolytes and the exorcists recited over them the baptismal 
exorcisms. Then the lessons followed, still read today from Eze- 
kiel (c. 36), which point in grand language to the purification by 
baptism and penance and to the eating of the mysterious Bread. 
Next came the ceremony, still in vogue today, of the opening of 
the ears with the exclamation: Epheta! After this an instruction 
was given to the catechumens, as is handed down to us by the 
ancient sacramentaries, on the four Gospels which four deacons 
brought forth in solemn procession. After this came the tradition 
of the symbolum and of the "Our Father." Then the Gospel of 
the man born blind was announced, and this is still read to this 
day on the same day. The Son of God desires to transform the 
catechumens from supernaturally deaf and blind into persons who 
hear and see by baptism and grace. After this the catechumens 
left the temple in order to enter again at the end of the mass to 
hear the day announced on which a last solemn examination on 



2 9 2 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

the profession of faith and the other formularies would take place. 
The impressive liturgy of this day leads the preacher also to a 
rich source of thoughts on the purification and the glorification of 
the faithful by baptism, by penance, and first communion and by 
paschal communion through the Son of God, Christ Jesus, and on 
the union with the same Christ, and the way to this purification 
and union through the word of God in sermon and catechetical 
instruction, in instructions on confession and communion. The 
homilist may also point to this very ancient example on the preceding 
or following Sunday of Lent, since the whole congregation is inter- 
ested in its catechumens and thereby awaken an interest of the 
parents and of the congregation in the instruction and education 
of those approaching confession and Holy Communion for the first 
time. The preacher might certainly lead his hearers in spirit to 
Rome with great profit, into the basilica of St. Paul, describe to 
them the scrutinium of Feria IV, and from this deduce the just men- 
tioned applications for our modern days. The same example would 
also awaken, if recounted in the first communicant instruction 
possibly precisely on this day, the interest of the children mightily 
and increase their zeal. All examples which stand in close relation 
to the liturgy and the time just celebrated have a higher significance 
and a special blessing. 1 

1 Statio ad Sanctum Eusebium. We will give here another short reminiscence. 
The great liturgical cycle which announces in this week to those who receive sight, 
the divinity of Christ through His great miracles, contains on Feria VI a Statio ad 
S. Eusebium. Here we meet a new and a striking example of how the liturgy under- 
stands the discovery or creation of thoughtful relations to its station Churches. The 
Titulus Eusebii is already mentioned in the hieronymian martyrology (Martyrol. 
Hieronym. : 14. Aug.), (Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, I, n. 136, p. 149). 
The church of St. Eusebius became in the course of time a cemetery church. About the 
time of the pontificate of John III the introduction of permanent burial within 
the walls of the city began. The last epitaph now known of the cemetery of St. 
Calixtus outside of the walls, falls in the first year of the reign of Pope John HI 
(560). In the same pontificate (567) occurs also the most ancient inscription of a 
city cemetery within the walls, which is of special interest to us here. This inscrip- 
tion, found in the year 1691 and others discovered in more recent times, point toward 
a great cemetery on the Esquiline hill between the Thermes of Diocletian (Maria 
degli Angeli) and the church of St. Eusebius. The splendid gardens of Maecenatis 
and Lamiani were once located here. The renowned Caius Cilnius Maecenas found, 
at the laying out of these numerous graves, the puticuli of ancient Rome, which were 
formerly located outside of the city, and he covered this former burying-place of the 
poor and the slaves with dirt. Afterwards, in Christian times, the place was again 
put to its former use. But the abominable pits of ancient Rome's bulk-cemeteries 
were not re-established, but narrow, yet clean and solitary chambers, in keeping 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



§ 29. Passion-Tide. (Third Step) 

After Christ had passed before our souls as an example in our 
conflict, as a teacher and lawgiver for our battle, and as a final and 
strong victor in the great struggle, after He had invited to His 
paschal and victorious banquet those who were delivered through 
baptism and confession, we ought learn to understand more deeply 
and directly at what price we were purchased, delivered, invited to 
come to Him and united with Him. Therefore the Church shows 
us during the following weeks Christ as the atoning High Priest, 
laden with the cross and covered with blood and wounds. The 
Church desires to fulfil the words of St. Paul, who could write to 
the Galatians concerning his sermons and the celebrations of the 
Passion: " Christ Jesus hath been set forth before your eyes cruci- 
fied among you." (Gal. 3:1.) She confesses with the same 
Apostle: "I judged not myself to know anything among you, but 
Jesus Christ: and Him crucified." (I Cor. 2:2.) The Church 
paints the Passion of Christ first in great general outlines during 
Passion Week, but exclusively and in detail only in Holy Week. 
Owing to the fact that the faithful no longer take part in the 
celebration of the entire Holy Week, the preacher should deliver a 
cycle of sermons on the Passion of Christ, from time to time, 
throughout the entire Lent. 

A closer consideration of the fifth Sunday of Lent will lead us 

with the dignity of man, generally enclosed by a square roof and walled in with plain 
tiles, mostly within a small depth of the earth. Both the noble and the humble 
received the burial blessing and the liturgical parting salutation of the Church, so 
beautifully expressed by the prayers for peace, the pax of the hereafter. Into this 
church of St. Eusebius the pilgrims entered on the Friday after the fourth Sunday 
of Lent for the purpose of celebrating the station. Recall to mind how the ancient 
procession of the stations marched over the broad and (possibly even now) most 
prominent cemetery of Rome to the celebration of mass into St. Eusebius. There 
you find for the Gospel, as still on this day, the history of the raising of Lazarus. It 
pertains to that cycle of divine proofs which pervades this whole week. But the reason 
for the selection of precisely this miracle consists, doubtless, in the just sketched 
oldest history 7 of this holy place. In the cemetery church of St. Eusebius the deacon 
sang on this day the words of Christ: "I am the Resurrection and the Life," and also 
that triumphant and powerful word which the Son of God pronounced at the tomb 
of putrefaction: "Lazarus, come forth!" Easter, the feast of the resurrection, was 
at hand. The catechumens longed for the light and the life of the Risen One. Out- 
side are seen the quiet graves on the Esquiline hill as far as the baths of Diocletian. 
Read now the mass of Feria IV in view of this. (See the highly interesting explana- 
tions given by Grisar, Geschichte Roms und des Paepste, I, n. 430, p. 667 ff. which 
we have followed here.) 



294 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



more deeply into the spirit of the third step of the preparation for 
Easter. 

§ 30. Passion Sunday 

Christ the Suffering High Priest 

Passion Sunday shows the High Priesthood of Christ from a two- 
fold view. It shows: 

A. Christ, the High Priest, as the suffering Son of Man — in 
the epistle, in the hymns, and partially also in the lessons of the 
first nocturn taken from Jeremias, who typified in himself the 
Passion of Christ. 

B. Christ, the High Priest, as the glorious Son of God — in 
the Gospel. 

A. Christ the High Priest — as the suffering God-man 

The liturgy of this Sunday directs the preacher to three copious 
fountains for a general conception of the Passion of Christ: 

1. To the biblical dogma of the letter to the Hebrews, con- 
tained in the Epistle. (Heb., c. 9.) Also: 

2. To the scientific dogma, to be constructed thereon. Also: 

3. To the pragmatics of the Passion of Christ contained in the 
hymns. 

1. Scriptural dogma on the atonement of Christ — the High Priest 

— contained in the letter to the Hebrews, c. 9. We will consider the 
biblical doctrines of faith, contained in the letter to the Hebrews 
(c. 9), in a close connection with the epistle, in the following points: 

(a) Christ the High Priest of future gifts enters, and He pre- 
cedes us into the Holy of Holies of Heaven, into the interior of 
the veil, as the Jewish high priest, on the feast of the atonement, 
entered typically into the holy of holies. 

(b) Christ passes, like that high priest, from the sanctuary into 
the holy of holies. But Christ does not enter into the Holy of Holies 
through a tent made by the hands of men. He preceded us and, for 
our sake, He went into the Holy of the Holies of Heaven through 
an exalted and perfect tent, which belongs not to natural creation 

— through the tent of His Holy Humanity united with the Divinity, 
wrought in a marvelous (virginal) conception by the Holy Ghost 
(tabernaculum non manuf actum, Heb. 9). At His very entrance 
into the world Christ said: A body Thou hast fitted to me, oh, 
Father! Behold I come — instead of the old holocaust — to do 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 295 



Thy will — as a sacrifice of atonement. (Heb. 10:5 sqq.; see 
above, pp. 57 and 58.) Now He actually offers this His humanity 
as an atonement for the burden of our sins. 

(c) Christ enters into the Holy of Holies of Heaven by His 
Blood. But, He does not enter into the holy of holies of the temple, 
like the high priest on the day of atonement, with the typical blood 
of the animals of the sacrifice of atonement of the Old Testament, 
which could only purify externally (in a levitical manner and in- 
wardly only by the power of the blood of Christ Himself) — but 
He entered through His own Blood into the sanctuary of Heaven, 
which He unlocked for us. For: 

(a) He sacrificed Himself as God-man in the Holy Ghost, as 
an immaculate and infinite sacrifice which could atone for all. Delens 
quod adversus nos erat chirographum decreti, quod erat contrarium 
nobis, et ipsum tulit de medio, affigens Mud cruci. (Col. 2:14.) 
He accomplished this sacrifice through His death which brought 
infinite atonement: morte inter cedente. (Heb. 9: 15 sqq.) 

(/3) He destroyed sin, mortal sin, thereby, and cleansed the 
souls, the consciences thereof: emundabit conscientiam nostram 
ab operibus mortuis ad serviendum Deo viventi. (Heb. 9: 14.) 
Finally, 

(a) He merited for us thereby supernatural life, grace upon 
earth and through grace — eternal glory — ad serviendum Deo 
viventi — aeterna redemptione inventa. (Heb. 9: 12, and 9: 14.) 

Thus Christ became a mediator of a new Testament. (Heb. 
9:15.) Through original sin all had lost the right of the inheritance 
of grace and the promise of heaven, which flowed from grace. By 
the atonement of Christ, through the death of the Son of man and 
of God, we have again become capable of partaking of the inheritance 
of the children of God. Christ is, as it were, our testator. He 
died for us. Dying and atoning He left unto us an immeasurable 
inheritance — grace and glory, supernatural life here and eternal, 
supernatural life hereafter, which He communicates to us through 
baptism, penance, and communion. These are the somewhat pop- 
ularized thoughts of the difficult Epistle and of the entire ninth 
chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. 

The liturgy itself presents a comparison of these passages with 
scientific dogma to the preacher, so that he may gain new homiletic 
material and attain new view-points, proofs, and popularization 
through the relation of the thoughts of the theology of the letter 



2 9 6 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



to the Hebrews, of the entire theology of Holy Scripture, and of 
tradition. 

2. The Traditional Dogma of the Atonement of Christ, the High 
Priest. The comparison of the dogma contained in the letter of the 
Hebrews, which the liturgy of today presents to us, with dogma 
in general, expands and accentuates the conception of the homilist. 
We shall here collect the relative fundamental thoughts by way of 
comparison. Thus the biblical ideas may be profitably combined 
with the well-known theses of dogma — they mutually illustrate 
each other. 

(a) The restoration of salvation was accomplished, according to 
the divine will, through the death of Christ, which became for all 
men of all times the bloody sacrifice. (Compare the constant and 
Hving but unbloody renewal of the sacrifice of the mass.) (See 
Matt. 1:21; 18:11. Symb. Nic. et Const. Philipp. 2:8; I Pet. 
2: 22-24; Apoc. 1: 15, and especially Heb., c. 9, from which the 
epistle of this day is taken.) 

(b) Christ offered Himself for us, through His death, as our ran- 
som, for the deliverance of those imprisoned (I Tim. 2:6) — "pur- 
chased with a great price" (I Cor. 6: 20, and I Pet. 1: 18, 19) — 
since "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaias 
43: 6) — since He "Who did no sin . . . bore our sins in His body 
upon the tree") I Pet. 2: 22-24) — wa s punished and chastized as 
though He committed the sins and deserved the punishment. Ecce 
agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. (John 1 : 29.) Thus, 
through His own blood, He blotted out the handwriting of the 
decree that stood against us, canceled it, and fastened it to the 
cross (Col. 2: 14), and placed Himself as an immaculate and inno- 
cent sacrifice upon the scales of divine justice. Thus He gave to 
the infinitely offended God a recompense of infinite value: abun- 
davit delictum, super abundavit gratia (Rom. 5: 20), a recompense 
not due to God, but a voluntary recompense: "He was offered, 
because it was His wall (Isaias 53: 7), as He showed in a magnani- 
mous manner on Calvary and in the hour of death; a recompense 
which God would not refuse, nor could He according to the eternal 
design of His mercy. 

(c) Christ offered Himself as a ransom for all. "He entered 
once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption." (Heb. 
9: 12.) "Christ gave Himself as a ransom for all." (I Tim. 2: 6.) 
"There is one God, and one mediator of God and man, the man 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Christ Jesus Who gave Himself a redemption for all." (I Tim. 
2:6, 7.) 

(d) This redemption has, finally, a threefold, immeasurable, and 
glorious object: To of ended justice it offers satisfaction. Our dead 
works and our condemnation wrought thereby, it removes: chiro- 
graphum decreti tulit de medio: Christ blotted out and canceled 
the handwriting of the judgment that stood against us (the mort- 
gage which burdened the earth) ; He removed it and fastened it to 
the cross. (Col. 2:14.) This redemption secured life for us — the 
life of grace and the eternal life which buds and blossoms there- 
from: aeterna redemptione inventa: ut vitam habeant et abundantius 
habeant. (John 10: 10; compare herewith the ideas formed, sub 
n. 1, and also the explanations on the second Sunday after Easter, 
but especially the Kurzg. Handbuch d. K. R. v. W. Willmer, S.J., 
§§ 134-138.) 

The preacher may now compare most profitably the biblical 
and the scientific dogma with the pragmatics of the liturgy. 

3. The pragmatics of the Hymns on the Atonement of the High 

Priesthood of Christ 

Out of the splendid hymns of the Passion: "Pange lingua 
gloriosi" — "Vexilla Regis" — and " Lustra sex" — we will select 
a few dogmatic-pragmatic ideas for the explanation and populariza- 
tion of which the proposed ideas given in 1 and 2 are especially 
appropriate. 

1. The cross is a banner of victory. Christ goes forth as a leader 
with the banner of the cross. He falls into the mire on the way, 
into the contempt of the world, into the hands of His enemies and 
His murderers, into a final and most horrid dereliction, into death 
and the grave — but He triumphs precisely through this, He casts 
out thereby, as our great leader who has gone through all the hard- 
ships of the campaign, and as the stronger, He casts out the armed 
strong leader of this world and divests him of his armor. And 
why? This is shown by the dogmatic thoughts which we have 
just sketched. (Compare n. 1, b, c, a, and n. 2, a, b.) (Compare 
also § 27, p. 280 sqq.) 

2. The cross is the tree of life: arbor una nobilis. Through 
Christ it brings a new life, the second life and its fruits (sacraments), 
which will secure life for those who eat thereof. This tree of life 
bears: 



298 homiletic and catechetic studies 



(a) being itself hard — the sweetest burden : Flecte ramos 
arbor alta, etc.; 

(b) itself, a wood of contempt — it bears the fruit of honor 
which animates and glorifies all: Silva talem nulla profert, etc. 
(Hymnus — Lustra sex; compare with this the dogmatic ideas of 
n. i, p. 294 sqq., c. (3, y, and n. 2, p. 297 d.) 

3. The cross is an ark: Area mundo naufrago. 

4. The cross is a scale: Stater a facta corporis tulitque praedam 
tartari. The scale of justice stands upon Calvary's height. The 
scale of sin is only balanced and equalized by the eternal hell or 
by the Passion of Christ — by the weight of justice or by the weight 
of mercy. (Compare the dogmatic thoughts, n. 1, a, b, c, a 
n. 2, a, b, d. Compare also below, § 37 sqq. of Holy Week.) 

The one side of the scale is filled with all the sins, from the 
fall of Adam to the betrayal of Judas, and from the betrayal of 
Judas to the last crimes at the end of the world. All of our sins 
are also weighed in: abundavit delictum. Then Christ places into 
the other side of the scale the immeasurable and the infinite weight 
of His Passion : super abundavit gratia (Rom. 5 : 20) : ut possitis 
comprehendere cum omnibus Sanctis quae sit latitudo et longitudo et 
sublimitas et profundum (charitatis Christi); scire etiam — super- 
eminentem charitatem Christi scientiae, ut impleamini in omnem 
plenitudinem Dei. (Ephes. 3: 18, 19.) 

Though the liturgy of Passion Sunday depicts for us Christ 
the High Priest, as the suffering son of man in the nocturns, in 
the Epistle and in the hymns, yet, in the Gospel it proclaims Him, 
nevertheless, as the glorious Son of God. 

B. Christ — the High Priest — the Glorious Son of God 

The Gospel (John, c. 8) presents Christ as the Son of God. 
During the course of Lent, and especially during the last week, 
the testimonies of the miracles of Christ loudly proclaimed His 
divinity. Now to these testimonies of the miracles of Christ the 
solemn personal testimonies of Christ are added. It was the 
Gospels of Lent that unfolded for us an image of the personality 
of Jesus, so that their testimonies are incontrovertible. Today 
Christ proclaims Himself: 

(a) Sinless: Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? (Beginning of 
the Gospel.) He is therefore the High Priest of whom the Apostle 
says: Talis enim decebat ut nobis esset pontifex, sanctus, innocens, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



impollutuSj segregatus a peccatoribus, et excelsior coelis factus: qui 
non habet necessitates quotidie, quemadmodum sacerdotes, prius pro 
suis delictis hostias off err e, deinde pro populi: hoc enim fecit semel, 
seipsum ojjerendo. (Heb. 7: 26, 27.) 

Giving life: Amen, amen dico vobis: si quis sermonem meum 
servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum. (Gospel.) And in con- 
nection with the powerful dispute which arose over these words, 

(y) Greater than Abraham: Nunquid Tu major es Patre no sir 0 
Abraham? Abraham pater noster exultavit, ut videret diem meum, 
vidit, et gavisus est; and when the dispute had risen to its height, 

(8) Older than Abraham, i.e., eternally present, long before 
Abraham was — as the eternal Son of God: antequam Abraham 
fieret, ego sum. Before this illuminating and overpowering sun 
of revelation infidelity vanishes into a mere threatening thunder- 
cloud. Only a little is lacking to make the God-man even now a 
bloody, a suffering High Priest : Tulerant ergo lapides ut facer ent 
in eum. But His hour is not yet come: Jesus autem abscondit se 
et exivit de templo. We see how anxious the Church is to proclaim, 
over and over again, the divinity of Christ before He descends 
entirely into the nocturnal shadow of the Passion. Only a true 
comprehension of the divinity and of the humanity of Christ will 
secure a genuine comprehension of the Passion of Christ — of the 
High Priest who redeemed us: Hie autem, eo quod maneat in aeter- 
num, sempiternum habet sacerdotium. Unde et salvare in perpetuum 
potest accedentes per semetipsum ad Deum: semper vivens ad inter- 
pellandum pro nobis. (Heb. 7: 24, 25.) Thus the Church leads 
us constantly deeper into the Passion of Christ. She opens the 
eyes of the blind. (Compare also Quinquagesima, p. 259, § 23, and 
Feria TV, after the IV Sunday of Lent.) 

The ceremony of the veiling of the cross has its causa occasion- 
alis in the final verses of the gospel: Jesus autem abscondit se et 
exivit de templo. But, since the veiling of the cross (and of the 
images) has now a close relation with the unveiling of Good Friday 
and continues until then, the liturgy, no doubt, intends to accen- 
tuate the idea of the causa occasionalis. The concealed cross 
recalls: (a) the concealment of Christ in the temple; (b) the con- 
cealment and the veiling of the divinity through the Passion of 
Christ (Durandus); (c) the concealment and the veiling of the 
crosses should remind us of the true cross erected on Golgotha, 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and unfold the same to us with all its entire doctrine of faith, of 
moral, and of grace. As the Church abstains on Good Friday from 
offering the sacrifice of the mass in order to celebrate the one bloody 
sacrifice of the cross, so she veils the crosses to commemorate the 
true cross of Golgotha: non enim judicavi me scire aliquid inter vos 
nisi Jesum et hunc crucifixum. (I Cor. 2:2.) (d) The veiled cross 
preaches, for the last time, justice and penance — in order that 
the love, the atonement, and the grace of the cross may unveil 
itself to us, prepared and penitent, at the unveiling on Good Friday. 
In a threatening and terrifying manner the veiled cross also reminds 
us of the veiled love of the Judge. 

The Passion-week extends the double series of the thoughts of 
Passion Sunday. The hymns, the lessons of Jeremias and the 
Gospels and the Epistles announce the catastrophe of the Passion. 
They bring it constantly nearer to us, and narrate the immediately 
preceding occurrences, and they show us the constantly growing 
conflict and the constantly increasing persecution. These are the 
menacing thunder-clouds of the final catastrophe. The Gospels 
remind us also of the divinity of the High Priest, who meets His 
suffering with the greatest deliberation. These reminders of the 
divinity of Christ are like sheets of fire and distress signals, which 
blaze up during the nightly storms of the Passion-week. In spite 
of the impending Passion, in spite of the imminent fall of Christ, 
He is and ever remains the divine victor and Redeemer, quia Pater 
in me et ego in Patre. (Gospel of Feria IV.) Pater clarifica nomen 
tuum. Venit ergo vox de coelo: et clarificavi et iterum clarificabo 
(Gospel of the Sabbath.) 

The Friday of Sorrows. Eight days before Good Friday the 
feast of the sorrows of Mary is introduced, with its immortal se- 
quence, the "Stabat Mater," like a preliminary octave. Benedict 
the XIV ascribes the first particular introduction of this feast to 
a provincial council of Cologne in the year 1423. (a) Mary appears 
at the foot of the cross as the sympathizing Mother, co-operating 
in the work of the redemption. It is the Good Friday of Mary. 
With a plastic brevity and pregnancy the Introit introduces the 
fact. The Mother of Sorrows is standing at the foot of the cross, 
fulfilling the prophecy of Simeon. (See also the oration.) (/J) The 
Gospel extends and accentuates the fact and brings it humanly 
near to us. (y) The Epistle gives the dogma, the doctrine of the 
faith of this fact: Mary co-operating in the work of the redemp- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



tion. With the prefiguring song in praise of Judith by the people 
(Judith, c. 13), this her co-operation is praised. (S) In the sequence 
a stream of the deepest sentiments concerning this fact flows 
onward toward us and carries us onward in sympathy, in sorrow, 
in recollection, and in renewal. These are affections of immortal 
beauty and of infinite fertility: The Sorrows of Mary (St. 1-5), 
our sorrow with Mary (St. 5 and 6). Mary now leads us to the 
sorrows of Christ Himself, who suffers for sinners (St. 7), who 
suffers enormously (St. 8), in order that sinners might love again 
(St. 9), might sympathize again (Sts. 10 and 11), and suffer with 
Christ (St. 12), that in sympathy, suffering, and co-operation they 
might pluck the fruits from the Passion of Christ (St. 12, to the 
end). 

"Eia Mater istud agas 
Crucifixi fige plagas 
Corde meo valide ! — 

Holy Mother! pierce me through; 
In my heart each wound renew 
Of my Saviour crucified. 

This is the great Pauline fundamental thought, which the poet, 
in marvelous love of Christ and of Mary, develops throughout the 
entire Sequence. The impression of these wounds upon the mem- 
ory, the imagination, the believing intellect, upon the co-operating, 
denying, and suffering will, into the deep, complete, and perfect 
feeling — is that great gift which we implore in these last days of 
Lent through the intercession of the sorrowful Mother: ut qui 
transfixionem ejus et passionem venerando recolimus, gloriosis meritis 
et precibus omnium sanctorum cruci fideliter adstantium inter ceden- 
tibus — passionis tuae effectum felicem consequamur; qui vivis, etc. 
(Oration.) Mary at the foot of the cross and the image of the 
Vespers of Good Friday: Mary with the body of Christ upon her 
lap — has become the greatest and the noblest image of consolation 
to the Catholic people, before which they love to meditate upon the 
great problem of the Passion and learn to appreciate it. The 
rock-ribbed sorrow of Niobe and the suffering of Laocoon, decreed 
by inexorable fate, form the foil upon whose despairing background 
the image of the Mother of Sorrow — surrounded by the last 
fluttering rays of Good Friday as the first hope of Easter — is 
depicted and serves as a consolation to suffering humanity: Nonne 
haec oportuit pati Christus et ita intrare in gloriam suam? (Luke 
24: 28.) Dicebat autem ad omnes: Si quis vult post me venire, 



302 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



abneget semetipsum, tollat crucem suam quotidie et sequatur se. (Luke 
9: 23; see the Imitation of Christ: de regia via cruris; compare 
Keppler, das Problem des Leidens, Stecher, S.J., Maria, Die wun- 
derbare Mutter (Mater admirabilis); Mai-predigten : 19. Mai: 
Marias Liebe zum Leiden, p. 218 ff., and May 27: Marias Grosse 
im Versohnungstote Christi, p. 313 fL (2 ed. of P. Fischer, S.J., 
Innsbruck, Rauch, 1902.) We should also like to recall here an- 
other feast of the Sorrows of Mary, that of the third Sunday of 
September. This feast possesses likewise a deeply conceived lit- 
urgy of much homiletic wealth. But there exists a somewhat 
pronounced difference between the two feasts. On the Friday of 
Sorrows the Passion of Christ is in the foreground. Mary is the 
sympathizing Mother, co-operating in the work of the redemption. 
She invites the world to sympathy and co-operation (dolorosa 
cooper atrix). The feast of September, celebrated toward the end 
of the circle of Pentecost, shows Mary as the Queen of Martyrs. 
There we survey an ocean of sorrows, viewed from the cross. Thus 
she becomes for us an intercessor, applying to us the Passion of 
Christ — a type of our own suffering with Christ. (Compare 
Amberger, Pastoral, II, B. Passionzeit, p. 772, 4 ed.) 

§ 31. Sermons for Lent (Methods) 

From ancient times an ever-increasing and accentuated announc- 
ing of the word of God seemed to have been a particular part of 
Lent. Lent was — as we have seen in the historical review — 
always intimately connected with the instruction, the education, 
and the baptism of the catechumens. Their preparation for and 
their introduction into the truth and grace could scarcely be accom- 
plished without a richer announcement of the word of God: fides 
ex auditu: auditus autem per verbum Christi. (Rom. 10: 17.) 
Lent, furthermore, was to effect a renovation of the life of the 
whole congregation, to awaken the great sinners and the penitents 
and even the just, for no one is without sin, to a new and an increas- 
ing spiritual life. This really required a richer and a more impres- 
sive announcement of the word of God. All were to be prepared for 
the paschal sacraments of the dead and of the Kving. When bap- 
tism of the adults became less frequent in Christianized countries 
— preparation for penance and communion became more prom- 
inent. In spite of all changes regarding penitential discipline the 
great aim of the renewal of the entire Church for Easter remained, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



and therefore also the homiletic character of the time. This hom- 
iletic character we have learned from the historical and the liturgical 
considerations of Lent. To this is added the ecclesiastical legisla- 
tion itself, which, according to the spirit of the intention, aims 
also in modern times at an increased activity of preaching. (Trid. 
Sess. 24, c. 4; see above: Duty of preaching, p. 36, note 2.) Under 
present conditions Lent requires a special consideration and a more 
exalted pastoral activity for the ordinary Sunday sermons, and, 
wherever possible (si episcopi ita oportere duxerint. Trid.), for the 
extraordinary afternoon or evening Lenten sermons. These extraor- 
dinary Lenten sermons may be given either on Sundays or holy 
days, or during the week-days. The latter is commendable in 
cities and industrial centers, provided a time be selected at which 
all can be present. The week-day sermons are in our regions, 
where otherwise the decrees concerning sermons are strictly fol- 
lowed, less urgent, especially if, from time to time, missions for 
the people and spiritual exercises for the various classes are insti- 
tuted. For this entire homiletic activity cycles of sermons are 
most commendable. We have already emphasized above, in the 
liturgical-homiletic description of the Lenten liturgy, the cyclical 
character, and remarked how easily and naturally, in the fullest 
sense cum fundamento in re, the liturgy is also adapted to modern 
requirements. Nevertheless, the preacher must often have recourse 
to cycles which are not directly connected with the liturgy. Yet, 
there will be many occasions in which even the selection of deviat- 
ing material, in the course of the sermon, an idea of the liturgy of 
the day, may be properly inserted. But in case the connection of 
the object of the sermon is not unnaturally connected with the 
Gospel that has been read, those rich rhetorical bridges, from the 
text to the object, the construction and deliverance of which would 
only rob time and bear no fruit, ought not to be erected. Rather 
hasten into the medias res, or begin with an interesting and short 
recapitidation of the cycle or of a part thereof. Whoever, in gen- 
eral, delivers very of ten exegetical and thematic homilies; whoever 
is anxious, in connection with the gospel, to make the people famil- 
iar with Christ Jesus — may, without going astray, deliver, from 
time to time, also a cycle of sermons which have no intimate 
relation with the gospel. 

The liturgy, the ecclesiastical legislation, and urgent requirements 
of the times will suggest to the preacher more methodical directions. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



i. Dogmatic-catechetical sermons. The entire Lenten time is 
adapted to bring before us Christ and His holy religion in a more 
fruitful and impressive whole, or from various view-points. (Com- 
pare above, p. 265 sqq., 271 sqq.) The preacher should therefore 
select, from time to time, several chapters of dogma as material 
for his Lenten discourses. For this purpose he should compare a 
dogmatic handbook with the diocesan catechism and the list of 
themes of the sermons delivered in his church for several years. 
The handbook of religion by Willmer is extraordinarily clear and 
pithy in its divisions, subdivisions, and selections of material (for 
this purpose we recommend the smaller compendium, which will 
be of great service to the preacher). The homilist will also derive 
a great profit from the use of summaries and verbal indices of 
several handbooks of dogma and of dogmatic monographs, also 
of dogmatic-catechetical popular writers, such as Wetzel, Segur, 
P. Lerch, also dogmatic collections of sermons, f.i., Bourdaloue, 
Scherer's Bibliothek fur Prediger, Zollner, Thuille, P. Schork, Die 
Geheimnisse unseres Glaubens, Colmar Predigten, McCarthy's 
sermons, Didon's sermons, Monsabre, Foersters, and Ehrlers 
Predigten, commentaries on the catechism by Schmitt, Mohler, 
and Spirago. Many of the less speculative parts of the Summa 
Theol. of St. Thomas will point out to the preacher appropriate 
and fruitful treasures. We recommend, as a guide: Das System 
der theolog. Summe des hi. Thomas von Aquin by A. Portmann, 
Prof, of theolog. in Luzern. 

For particular matter we recommend themes on the symbol of 
faith, with certain restrictions, f.i., 1. God — the one God and the Cre- 
ator (First Sunday.) 2. God — the triune God (II. S. Tabor). 
3. Christ — the Redeemer (exclusive of the mysteries of Christmas 
(III. S.). 4. The Church of Christ (IV. S.). 5. The grace of Christ 
(V. S.). 6. Christ the Judge (in contrast to the atoning Redeemer). 
Themes on Christ Jesus are recommendable. (Compare § 21 sqq., 
p. 257, and § 25 sqq., p. 271, a retrospect of Easter at the end of the 
octave of Pentecost.) We also recommend themes on the Church — 
themes on the doctrine of God, with striking applications for prac- 
tical life, f.i., God — the omnipresent God (temptation) — the infi- 
nite God (law and its transgression) — the great God (Confession) — 
love (communion) ; in connection with this two sermons on Christ: 
The God-made man — (a) The suffering of the God-man ; (b) the 
station of His life, etc. If a longer dogmatic cycle has been selected, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 305 



which is extended, with some few necessary interruptions, into 
two or three years, then the peculiarity of Lent should also be 
considered within such a plan. (See § 25, sqq., p. 271.) 

2. Moral sermons. The liturgical-homiletic consideration espe- 
cially of the Epistle, lessons, and of the ferial offices, has taught us 
how anxiously the Church brings before us the announcement of 
the moral law during Lent. Besides, this is very much empha- 
sized by the council of Trent: tempore jejuniorum . . . divinam 
legem annuntient. In these sermons the preacher should not always 
confine himself to the mere forms and rehearsals of the catechism. 
We have nothing else to preach than the catechism. But the truth 
must be emphasized and preached in regard to new points of view. 
The preacher should therefore consult the greater moral theologians 
and thorough ascetics. We recommend especially: Miiller, Theol. 
Moralis, I-III, vol.; Gopfert, Moral theologie ; Propst, Lensen- 
mann, Moral theologie, Lehmkull, Theolog. Mor., Weiss, Apologie, 
V. vol. ; the writings of St. Francis de Sales. Much of a homiletic 
utility may also be found in the moral theology of Sailer and Hir- 
scher. We recommend, furthermore, the booklet of Exercises of 
St. Ignatius and his commentary; Pesch, the Religious Life; der 
Christ im Weltleben; Meschler, The Gift of Penecost, etc. The 
preacher will find a surprisingly rich selection in L, II., of the 
Summa Theol. of St. Thomas by considering and meditating on 
several questions. The preacher should also consult several moral 
preachers, especially Bourdaloue, Segneri, Hunolt, and also more 
recent ones, such as Lierheimer, Die zehn Gebote, Krick, 48 Kan- 
zelvortraege iiber die Christlichen Tugenden, Wiseman, Moral ser- 
mons. We recommend as themes: Cycles of sermons on the ten 
commandments, under certain pithy and practical view-points, f.i., 
God and your intellect (First Com.) ; God and your speech (Second 
Com.); God and the mode of spending the week (Third Com.); 
God and the family (Fourth Com.); God and humanity (Fifth 
Com., love); and on the welfare of humanity — the good of life 
(propagation, chastity) (Sixth Com.) ; the good of fortune (Seventh 
Com.); of honor and of truth (Eighth Com.); God and your 
inmost spiritual life (Ninth and Tenth Com.). We recommend, 
furthermore, themes on Christian virtues and particular precepts 
of the same, f.i., law — conscience — virtue — faith — hope — 
charity — honor of God — prudence — temperance — justice — 
fortitude — chastity — humility — veracity, etc. From time to 



3 o6 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



time a cycle on particular commandments might be delivered, 
Li., on the second tablet — or the most important commandments 
of the second tablet (IV., VI. , and VII. Commandments), and 
these could be shaped very practically. For these moral Lenten 
sermons a careful preparation is doubly necessary in order that 
the preacher may not lose himself in the quicksand of general 
moralization, but rather develop very vividly and practically the 
controlling influence of Christian virtue and of the Christian char- 
acter , through faith and grace. If the preacher has studied the 
domain of a virtue — with pen in hand — let us say, f.i., of faith 
or humility, according to St. Thomas II. II. or according to 
Muller, Lehmkuhl Weiss (Apologie), Alban Stolz (Erziehungs- 
kunst), De Ponte, Scaramelli — then meditation — drawing from 
Holy Scripture (Verbal-Lexicon; compare also above, pp. 147-153) 
— and a view into life ought to shape the sermons on virtue into 
practical, attractive, and fruitful discourses. In short, we recom- 
mend most emphatically a comparison of ideal morality under 
positive-speculative view-points (f.i., Thomas II. II. — Muller) 
joined with ascetics (f.i., De Ponte, Scaramelli, Weiss), with pas- 
toral casuistics on sin (f.i., Noldin), and with experiences in life. 

We have still three very important sources of material for 
Lenten sermons to consider. 

3. Cycles of homilies on Holy Scripture. We have spoken 
extensively on the duty of introducing the people into Holy Scrip- 
ture, when we considered the Bible as a source of Sacred Eloquence 
(p. 97 sqq.). The Lenten liturgy points toward this very emphat- 
ically and perseveringly in its striking scriptural lessons. Further- 
more, the Council of Trent requires expressly: tempore jejuniorum 
quadragesimae . . . sacras scripturas . . . annuntient. (Compare 
above, p. 36.) The custom followed in many places, and most 
recommendable, to read for the people on Lenten week-days the 
Lenten gospels (in the evening devotions possibly the epistles) is 
closely allied to the same association of ideas. The preacher should 
therefore select, from time to time, for his Lenten discourses, closely 
connected paragraphs of Holy Scripture which he may divide into 
proper themes for exegetic and thematic treatment. But selec- 
tions should not be made of parts too generally known, in order 
that the knowledge of the Book of books might thus be extended. 
We refer especially to the Gospels and lessons of the Sundays and the 
ferial days (p. 271 sqq.). We should however add, by way of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



examples, several cyclical sketches of a longer and shorter scrip- 
tural paragraph for Lenten sermons. A. The eve of the great Thurs- 
day. Divide the whole into paragraphs of thoughts which mostly 
exclude each other, f.L, i. The love of Jesus unto the end. (The 
sun-setting of the chvine-human love; retrospect of the life of 
Jesus — cum dilexisset suos in finem dilexit eos (John 13: 1). Com- 
pare Lohmann, ''Leben Jesu," Evangelienharmonie, p. 254.) 2. The 
prefigured banquet of love: Banquet of Easter, (a) The preparation. 
(Luke 22: 14-18; Mark 14: 12-25; Matt. 26: 20, 17-19, 29.) 
(b) The spirit of this preparation. (Luke 22: 24-40: quarrel over 
the rank of the disciples.) 3. The invitation to the banquet of love 
of the new worship. (John 13:2-20: the washing of the feet.) 
(a) The majesty of Jesus (sciens Jesus quia omnia dedit ei Pater in 
manus), and His humility (surgit a coena, mittit aquam in pelvim). 
After these grand words of introduction something exalted, some- 
thing extraordinary is expected. Therefore the Evangelist con- 
tinues: sciens, quia omnia dedit ei Pater in manus . . . ponit 
vesiimenta sua . . . mittit aquam in pelvim et coepit lavare pedes 
discipulonim. There is no more impressive example and no more 
impressive sermon on humility — especially on the so necessary 
beheving humility based on the faith of the communicant, (b) The 
doctrines and the requirements of Jesus in the midst of His majesty 
and of His condescension: (a) to be clean of all grievous sins; 
((3) to be entirely clean — i.e., "to wash the feet." Even though 
having ascended from the bath of baptism, of penance, and of the 
remission of sins, yet the dust of lesser faults clings to the feet 
which is washed away by perfect love and contrition before com- 
munion. (A ceremony, entirely similar to the washing of the feet, 
is the lavabo at mass.) 4. The true banquet of love: the institution 
of the Holy Eucharist.. (Luke 22: 19, 20; Mark 14: 22-24; Matt. 
26:26-28; I Cor. 11:23-25; Lohmann, Evangelienharmonie, p. 
259.) 5. Parting words of love (divided into several sermons): 
I. The end and the way to the end. (John 14: 1-12.) 6. Parting 
words of love: II. Grace for the way to the end (the vine and the 
grapes, John 15: 1-8). 7. Parting words of love: III. The law 
(commandment and precept) of this way to the end : the fulfilment 
of the commandment of love and of all commandments. (John 
15:9-17; see John 13:32-35.) 8. Parting words of Christ: The 
prayer of love — the concluding prayer of Christ and our prayer. 
(John 17: 1-26.) 



3 o8 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Cycle B. We will give another example of a cyclical treatment 
of a shorter biblical paragraph. Real practical material for Lent 
might be furnished by the conversation of Christ with the Samaritan 
woman (John, c. 4) divided into the following themes: I. Jesus 
Himself (v. 1-9). II. Jesus on grace (v. 9-16). III. Jesus on sin 
(on sin in general and sin against chastity, marriage, and the family, 
v. 16-19). IV. Jesus on the true religion (v. 19-27). The true 
religion of the Old Testament (v. 24, 25, 26, in connection with 
the conclusion of the four Gospels, and the conclusion of the Gospel 
of John: John 21: 15 sqq. See above, p. 6-13). V. Jesus on the 
servants and the priests of the true religion (v. 27-38). VI. Jesus 
and the confessors of the true religion (39-42; compare the Acts of 
the Apostles on the first harvest in Samaria; see above, p. 128, 
n. 15). 

4. Cycles on the paschal sacraments. A good confession and a 
worthy holy communion is the great aim of Lent. We have already 
seen how the entire liturgy dwells upon the sacramental reconcilia- 
tion with God through Jesus Christ. The liturgical consideration 
of Holy-week and Easter-week will make this clearer. The earnest 
and emphatic legislation of the Church in this regard is well known. 
Therefore an explanation of the Easter sacraments and an intro- 
duction into the respective duties in this regard is one of the 
principal tasks of the Lenten preacher. Many diocesan statutes 
prescribe most emphatically and definitely sermons for Lent on the 
sacrament of penance in some form. Confession and subsequent 
communion are really the focus of the Christian life, a real Cath- 
olic act. The preacher has attained much, often all, when he has 
prepared the congregation well for the paschal sacraments. We 
shall therefore recall some of the most important points on this 
head. 

A. The apologetics on Confession. It is one of the most impor- 
tant duties of the pastoration of today to deliver, from time to 
time, a triumphant demonstration and defense of confession before 
the people and the more cultured classes. In this should be shown 
the institution and the obligation of confession as one of the precepts 
of Christ, and also as a splendid paschal gift received from the bleeding 
and the glorified hands of Christ. 

1. The Gospel proof is gathered, in the best possible manner, 
from the whole context of John 20: 19-23. The preacher will do 
well to connect this whole proof most intimately with the person 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



of Christ Jesus and place Him, according to the liturgical time, partly 
or entirely into the joyful light of Easter, He should show the insti- 
tution of the Sacrament of Penance as the first Easter act of Christ 
in the midst of the Apostles, as a commission which surpasses even 
the precept of baptism. (Compare the Council of Trent, p. 27, 
and 13-16 sqq.) 

We desire to recall here the following important dogmatic- 
homiletic view-points, which the preacher should popularize in a 
clearly presentable and vivid manner. 

On the evening of Easter, when the Risen Christ had appeared for 
the first time in a solemn manner to the entire college of the Apostles, 
with the exception of Thomas, the Saviour transmitted His magnificent 
Easter-gift: the sacrament of penance to the world. Christ manifests 
Himself to His own in that memorable hour, as the Son of God and of 
man. He appears in a miraculous manner, the doors being locked. He 
shows them the marks of His glorified wounds; He eats before their 
eyes — and He seems to say: "I am the Redeemer, the God-man of 
Good Friday." He brings the fruit of the tree of the cross, the resur- 
rection in the newness of life. He gives to the Apostles and to humanity 
the salutation of the Easter-peace, the true peace of grace and of con- 
scienre. He breathes upon them a truly divine and creative breath — 
conferring upon them new life and new powers that they might awaken 
and propagate this life throughout the world. 1 He places, in reality, 
the Holy Ghost at the disposal of the Apostles: " Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost." And finally the eternally memorable words follow: "Whose 
sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall 
retain, they are retained them." Once upon a time when the Saviour 
had spoken, for the first time, the great words at the cure of the man 
sick of palsy: " Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee" — the 
Jews became greatly excited: "What does this one say? He blas- 
phemeth! Who but God can forgive sin?" Indeed this last sentence is 
the truth: God alone can forgive sin. But the Son of man, Jesus of 
Nazareth, is also God, He is truly the substantial Son of God, as He 
immediately proved so well by the miraculous cure of the paralytic. 
"What is easier to say: Thy sins are forgiven thee?" thus the Lord 
continues His convincing proof, or to say: "Arise and walk? But that 
you may know that the Son of man hath power to forgive sin upon 
earth (He saith to the man sick of palsy) : I say to thee — take thy bed 
and go into thy house! and immediately this one arose and went away 
glorifying God. 2 This same divine power — to forgive or not to forgive 



1 See below, Holy Saturday. 2 Luke : 517-26. Mark 2:1. Matt. 9: 1-8. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



sins — the Saviour transmitted to weak men on the greatest day of His 
life, as a grand gift of Easter to His Apostles, to the bishops, and the priests 
of His Church: "As the Father hath sent Me, so also I send you." Who 
will prevent His divine omnipotence and mercy from doing this? It is a 
fact: The divine power to forgive or to retain sin has been transmitted to 
the Church. But for the sacrament of penance Christ transmitted only 
one power: to forgive sin. The divine omniscience, which was at the dis- 
posal of Christ Jesus — the searcher of hearts, He did not transmit to His 
own. What follows from this? That the priests give absolution with 
divine power. But the judgment of sin, the judgment of whether the 
sinner is prepared to receive pardon or not, the judgment of the dis- 
position of the sinner toward the great moral law of Christ and toward 
the future — this can only be exercised or formed by human means, under 
the direction of divine grace. The omniscience of God was not trans- 
mitted to the Church. Therefore, the confessor must learn to know the 
sin, must obtain an insight into the life of the soul, at least concerning 
the more grievous sins, 1 in order either to loose or to bind, to forgive or 
to retain, according to this insight and according to the process of love, 
of mercy, and of holy earnestness. Therefore, two things follow from 
the act of Christ on this glorious Easter night: the necessity of con- 
fession and the necessity of a particular cultivation by the priest for 
confession. A divine power, full of ineffable peace and blessing, is con- 
ferred upon the Catholic priest, but also a power full of the most earnest 
and far-reaching responsibility. Though the confessor may not be able 
to form a complete judgment, a judgment which may penetrate the 
entire thread and depth of the moral life, still, he is strictly obliged to 
judge: for according to this judgment must he treat, absolve, direct, 
and guide the penitent. Confession is placed into the very focus of 
the whole moral law, in the focus of all divine powers and of human 
judgments, of all heavenly and worldly directions. Under the sacred 
mystery of silence the inmost life reveals itself and is measured in the 
several cases by the morality of human and Christian dignity. The 
priest does not boastfully judge his fellow-man here as a private person, 
but a sacred transaction takes place before the eternal God through 
God's representative. 

In relation hereto confer Matt. 16: 18, and 18: 18, and espe- 
cially the explanation by Schanz, Sacramentslehre, § 38: Einsetzung 
des Sacramentes der Busse, S. 498 ff., Dr. Augustus Egger, Bishop 
of St. Gall: Die Beicht in der hi. Schrift und in der kath. Kirche, 
1 901: The Dogma of Hurter, etc., also corresponding biblical com- 

1 The causa absolute necessario omnino cum Deo componenda — as the moralists 
say. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 311 

mentaries; likewise Schweitz. Kirchenzeitung, Jahrgang, 1901: Das 
Bussacrament in der alten Kirche, by Dr. P. Schanz, S. 298 ff. 

2. The ecclesiastic-historical proofs. Rich, critical historical 
material may be found especially in Dr. P. Schanz, Die Lehre von 
den hi. Sacramenten der kath. Kirche, Freiburg, Herder, 1893. 
Compare also Dr. Augustinus Egger: Die Beicht in der hi. Schrift 
und in der kath. Kirche; Dr. P. A. Kirsch, Zur Geschichte der 
kath. Beichte, Wurzburg, Gobel, 1902; also recent larger Dog- 
matic and Apologetic works. In the development of the ecclesi- 
astic-historical proofs, from the Acts of the Apostles to the Council 
of Trent, the preacher should notice especially and sharply a series 
of archeological historical points and facts as well as the introduc- 
tion of exegesis and of classical passages. We are not of the opinion 
that the preacher must use all these important points in the pulpit. 
Yet he should use certain, at least indirect and partly also direct 
[compare, f.i., n. (a) to (e)], references which strengthen and clarify 
the proofs mightily. 

(a) Christ gave the Apostles and their successors the power to 
forgive or to retain sin. (A fact of Holy Scripture.) 

(b) The faithful are commanded to confess their sins. (A fact of 
Holy Scripture.) 

(c) There was and is in the Church a pardon of sins, in the form 
of an obligatory tribunal of mercy, to which, during the entire course 
of ecclesiastical history, all grievous sins had to be, in a manner, 
submitted — according to the various legislations of the Church, 
different in view of the times and in form. (A fact of Holy Scrip- 
ture, see John 20: 23, especially the word Kparelv — retinere — as 
well as the primeval history of the Church in regard to the ancient 
penitential discipline which recognized, not merely a remission of 
ecclesiastical punishments, but also actual remission of sins before 
God and in the name of God.) 

(d) The conviction was ever alive in the Church that there is 
a sacramental remission of sin after baptism, which is accom- 
plished precisely in this tribunal of penance by infusion of grace 
(a fact of tradition). 

(e) There have existed and still exist in the Church various kinds 
of remissions of sins: but the sacramental in the sacrament of 
penance may not be omitted by the grievous sinner. Though sins, 
and really grave sins, are often remitted outside of the sacrament 
of penance through perfect contrition proceeding from love, still, 



312 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

■the intention to confess later may not be thereby excluded. Otherwise 
the pardon of grievous sins outside of the sacrament of penance 
is not obtained. Somewhere and always that, which today we call 
in theology votum confessionis, was required. (Result of the in- 
vestigation of a comparison of texts and of fundamental views of 
writers.) 

(/ ) The precept of confessing mortal sins is a lex divina, bind- 
ing sub gravi, but not more directly determined. The explanatory 
and more closely determining lex ecclesiastica, however, was not at 
all times the same. The ecclesiastical law, in regard to those grievous 
sins {peccata capitalia) upon which public ecclesiastical punishments 
rested, was in ancient times fully determined, but in regard to the 
rest of the grievous sins {peccata media), though certainly deter- 
mined, yet, in reference to time and circumstances, very little 
developed; whether, in primeval days, there existed besides the 
undetermined lex divina, also a lex ecclesiastica which determined 
and limited more fully the obligation of confession, or whether, in 
this matter, it was mostly left to the conscience of the Christians, 
can scarcely be decided. 

(g) The more ancient classical witnesses of the Church con- 
cerning confession are, especially Origen, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Augus- 
tin, Ambrose. The testimonies of St. John Chrysostom and of 
Zeno of Verona, which are quoted in dogmas and apologetics, 
require partly, critical sifting. 

{h) In the doctrine of the sacrament of penance there were 
times of obscuration and of clarification. The dogmatic historical 
line, however, may be surely, though not always without difficulty, 
led back to Holy Scripture. Highly important for the preacher 
are the Fourth Lateran and the Tridentine councils (s. 14). 

(i) The preacher, however, should not merely emphasize the 
archeological proof, but, above all, the infallible teaching office and 
the practise of the Church, which has expressed herself most clearly 
and infallibly upon the institution and the obligation of confession. 
The Council of Trent anathematizes those who exclude, in their 
explanations the institution of the sacrament of penance from the 
proper meaning of the passage of John 20. That it might also, 
at least in a certain sense, be applied to baptism, follows from the 
text of the council and from the expressions of several of the Fathers 
of the Church. (S. 14, c. 1-3.) 

Next to the Apologetics on confession a treatment of the several 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 313 

parts and of the effects of confession is absolutely necessary. We 
will consider the most important homiletic view-points, above all, 
the actus poenitentis, which constitute the quasimateria and the 
conditio sine qua non of the sacrament of penance. 

B. Confessio cum debita et diligenti praemeditatione. (Trid. 
Sess. XIV, can. 7.) A plain, clear, comprehensive catechetical 
instruction on the examination of conscience and confession is 
indispensably necessary from time to time, and a great benefit to 
a congregation. The preacher must guard against rigorism and 
a superficial, obscure exposition, which create a lax conscience. 
There is great danger that the homilist may depend too much in 
these catechetical instructions upon his knowledge and experience. 
The want of a more exact preparation will show, in consequence, 
even in the zealous preacher, exaggerations, as a rule, and thereby 
great confusion in timid consciences. We therefore recommend: 

1. Thorough moral-theological reviews of the tracts on materia 
remota et proxima S. Poenitentiae, de confessione. For homiletic 
treatment we recommend especially the luminous, clear, free-from- 
all-exaggeration examination of Noldin, S.J., contained in his 
moral tract on: De sacramentis (III. B. of the summa theologiae 
moralis), also the moral theology by Gopfert (III. B.). Of course, 
not all questions propounded by theology should be treated in 
the pulpit. But a thorough understanding of this important field 
will give the preacher a joyful security and pastorally wise exacti- 
tude and a mildness which is absolutely inestimable. Of all this 
the homilist will find but few indications in the excessive flood of 
preaching literature, aye, not infrequently will he find very wrong 
conceptions. A return to the first sources of theology itself is 
nowhere more necessary than precisely here. 

2. A moral-theological review of the more strikingly difficult ques- 
tions: of materia necessaria and sufficients, of peccata dubia, peccata 
omissa, peccata jamjam confessa, of the necessary and useful general 
confession, etc. In matters of this kind it is not an infrequent 
occurrence that incorrect teaching is inculcated. We refer, f.i., 
to one solitary point: the preacher has no right to demand that 
involuntarily forgotten mortal sins be confessed in a new confession 
just before communion. They are (indirectly) remitted with the 
rest of the sins confessed. The penitent is in a state of grace. He 
has therefore the praeparatio substantialis for holy communion. 
There still remains the obligation to submit the sins, already in- 



314 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



directly remitted, to the power of the keys of the Church on account 
of Christ's precept of confession. This must be done in the fol- 
lowing confession. But there is neither a divine nor an ecclesias- 
tical precept to make, on this account, a special confession, or before 
the approaching communion. This may be advised, especially to 
lax penitents. But it is not even advisable to give this advice 
promiscuously or without limitation. He who reflects but a little 
may readily perceive how easily penitents might become perplexed 
and worried by demanding or urging such a new confession, before 
communion, f.i., before a general communion for which the par- 
ticipants may be already assembled. The objection — I wish to 
accustom my hearers to what is safest — is a sign of a false con- 
ception of moral theology. We have no right to represent a means 
as a matter of duty when there is no question of a necessary means 
for a necessary end. 

C. Contrition. The doctrine of natural and supernatural con- 
trition, of perfect and imperfect contrition, of sacramental and 
extra-sacramental contrition, of justification in the sacrament and 
out of the sacrament, is one of the most important themes of Lent. 
Precisely herein we often rind today the echo of a rigorous jansen- 
istic tendency, unconsciously, in a part of the literature for preach- 
ing. For this very reason we emphasize a return to the first 
moral theological sources. We recommend to the preacher especially 
the moral theology of Gopfert (tract on love, II. B. — the tract 
on contrition III. B.) of the summa theologiae moralis of Noldin the 
two treatises relating hereto ; Jungmann, Theorie der geistl. Bered- 
samkeit (II. B. N. 373); Thomas II. II. treatise on love. Among 
the smaller ascetic works we recommend especially for the doctrine 
on contrition: Pesch, The religious life; Lehmkuhl, Herz Jesu 
Monat, and Arbeiter, Hattlers Volksschriften. The doctrine of 
contrition is not merely of inestimable benefit for a preparation 
for the sacrament of penance, but also and especially for the entire 
Christian life. 

From a homiletic view-point we desire, therefore, to refer to some 
questions on the theory and the practise of perfect and imperfect con- 
trition. We shall omit giving the more extensive arguments of moral 
theology and we wall limit ourselves here to only one survey — by no 
means superfluous in a homiletic work. 1 

1 Compare also Jungmann, Theorie der geistl. Beredsamkeit, II, B. S., 866, 
n- 373 2- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 315 

(A) A homiletic-theological survey of contrition. 
First question. What is perfect contrition? Contritio perfecta (also 
simply called contritio, perfect contrition, contrition proper, contrition 
proceeding from love); est appreciative summus animi dolor et detestatio 
peccatorum super omnia ex motivo charitatis, &. v., propter Deum sum- 
mum bonum in se super omnia dilectum. 

Second question. What is the motive of perfect contrition? There 
is but one motive of perfect contrition: The motive of perfect love, for 
true perfect love is the real perfect act of a Christian, by which he unites 
himself to God and God's grace and which brings therefore contrition 
and penance to its completion and perfection. This calls for another 
question : 

Third question. What is the motive of perfect love? The motive, the 
moving cause of perfect love, is: ipse Deus summum bonum in se, or 
in other words: ipsa Dei bonitas in se, God alone, therefore, moves us 
to perfect love and therefore to perfect contrition. God, the supreme 
good in Himself, the only good in the fullest sense — considered in the 
supernatural light. St. Thomas remarks most strikingly: Affectus 
charitatis perfectae sistit in ipsa persona amata propter se. (Compare II, 
II. q. 23, art. 5, ad 2; q. 27, art. 3, also 4, 5.) Nemo bonus nisi solus 
Deus, Luke 18, 19. Nemo bonus nisi unus Deus. (Mark 10, 18.) 

Fourth question. How may we conceive the one motive of perfect 
contrition and love? In a twofold manner: (a) As motive of perfect 
contrition we may consider: ipsum Deum summum bonum in se, in 
general, in its entire fulness, a. v., the motive of perfect love and con- 
trition should therefore be conceived as the bonitas infinita Dei in the 
sense of a complexus omnium perfectionum. For this conception of the 
motive we have the expression of the Catechism: the highest good, 
most worthy of all love, moves me to contrition. 

(b) We may also select, as motive of perfect love and contrition, 
every single attribute and perfection of God or several of these abso- 
lutely and relatively. We divide thus the general concept of the supreme 
good, which is most worthy of love in itself, into its own several parts, 
as it were, into its own rays. But the theological cause consists in this: 
that every single attribute of God denotes the entire being of God, and 
considers it under a certain view-point. Thus divine omnipotence, 
beauty, goodness, mercy, that is, God considered as omnipotence, beauty, 
goodness, and mercy can move us to perfect contrition. 

Fifth question. Which is the best way to perfect contrition? The 
best way to the motive of perfect contrition, therefore, the best way to 
permit God, as the supreme good in Himself, to act upon us and for us, 
to be moved by Him is meditation on the life of Jesus, especially on His 
Passion. From the whole life of Jesus the divine attributes shine upon 



316 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



us, especially the most lovely and attractive thereof, which move us to 
love and to sorrow. The best way in which the people learn to know 
the highest and most lovely good is through the cross on Calvary, when 
they see the head covered with blood and the wounds under the crown 
of thorns. Therefore the Gospel of John says of the life of Jesus: Vidi- 
mus gloriam ejus quasi unigeniti a Patre plenum gratiae et veritatis, and 
the Church repeats this saying when the renewed life of Jesus has passed 
before us in the mass. The preface of Christmas designates it precisely 
as the aim of the Incarnation of Christ to move us to perfect love and 
contrition : Ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilium 
amorem rapiamur. 

Sixth question: Does perfect love and contrition justify, outside of 
the sacrament of penance? Yes, if at least the full and sincere votum 
confessionis, i.e., the determined will, proceeding from contrition to fulfil 
later the precept of confession, is included or at least not excluded. For 
proof, taken from the singularity of love, which unites mostly with God, 
from the clear and the decisive passages of Holy Scripture and from the 
ecclesiastical definitions consult the moral theological treatises on love. 
We here simply refer to the Scriptural proof to which we would add a 
few theological explanations. 

Holy Scripture solemnly and definitely announces, in many passages, 
the consoling doctrine of justification by love and contrition, f.i., John 
14: 21-25; I John 4:7; in the parable of the pharisee and the publican. 
It came from the Hps of the Saviour Himself, f.i., John 14: 21; Qui 
diligit me, diligetur a Patre meo: et ego eum diligam et manifestabo ei 
meipsum. Therefore, he who by God's grace possesses a correct and 
true and perfect love, he who loves God, who clings to God as the only 
and the infinitely good and most worthy of love — therefore qui diligit 
Deum, who truly makes a full and genuine act of love and through this 
love detests sin — he will be loved by the Father, i.e., he will be re- 
garded and treated as a child of love, in the true sense by God. But 
in him whom God considers and treats as a child of love, there can be 
no mortal sin, deserving of hatred, in the sight of God. Mortal sin 
makes the entire person of the sinner detestable to God. Venial sin 
moves God to sadness. It renders some of the actions of man displeas- 
ing to God. If Christ says of any man: "My Father loves him and I 
love him" — then there can be no mortal sin in such a man. But 
Christ declares this of every man who loves Him. Where, therefore, 
there is true love, proper and genuine love, where man, by God's grace 
and with a full and holy earnestness, loves God — there can be no mortal 
sin — there man is justified. The Saviour adds : et manifestabo ei me- 
ipsum. This can only mean a manifestation and giving of Himself 
to the soul, as is done by sanctifying grace. Of course, a complete and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 317 



genuine awaking of love is meant. Therefore the Saviour prefaces 
St. John 14: 21 with the words: Qui habet mandata mea et servat ea, ille 
est qui diliget me. Therefore, a former sinner must continue, with the 
newly awakened love, at least in the firm purpose of keeping all the 
grave commandments of God This earnest and firm will must become 
effective through love and contrition proceeding from love, in opposition 
to the former transgression of the commandments, either explicitly or 
implicitly, in a most true sense of the word. One of these grave pre- 
cepts of Christ commands us to confess. To submit our grievous sins 
to the power of the keys of the Church according to the precept of Christ 
and of the Church. He, therefore, who would be justified by perfect 
contrition must have the will later to fulfil the precept of confession, at 
least when it should become urgent for him in general, or in particular. 
This votum confessionis must be at least included in contrition in the 
sense that it be not excluded. The Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, c. 4, 
maintains expressly that perfect contrition justifies, but it adds: ipsani 
nihilominus reconciliationem ipsi confessioni sine sacramenti voto quod in 
ilia continetur, non esse adscribendam. It is, therefore, an incorrect and 
jansenistical exaggeration to preach or to teach that perfect contrition 
only justifies in time of danger, f.i., in danger of death. // justifies 
always and at all times, whenever the one sorrowing has the intention 
to fulfil later the obligation of penance. Therefore, let the preacher 
teach: Perfect contrition justifies, gives sanctifying grace to the sinner, 
whenever he has the intention to confess later. The doctrine, occa- 
sionally taught in ascetic works, that the sinner must intend to confess 
as early as possible in order to be justified — is theologically false and 
smacks of Jansenism. True, it is advisable to confess as soon as possible, 
but no one has a right to establish a command where neither Christ 
nor the Church has established one. No one has a right to make a 
mere counsel a general obligation. If he who is in mortal sin wishes to 
receive holy communion he should not be satisfied, of course, with con- 
trition and the votum to confess later, but he must have the intention to 
confess before communion: to that he is bound by an express command. 
Casuistically considered, one in mortal sin may be justified if only he 
combines with his perfect contrition the firm purpose to confess later, 
f.i., when he desires to receive holy communion the next time: for him 
the precept of confession becomes urgent. Moreover, if a sinner has 
awakened in himself a perfect act of contrition and intends to confess 
during the next paschal time, this votum will be sufficient — provided 
all other conditions of a perfect contrition are verified. 1 The preacher 

1 When a priest, in causa necessaria urgente deficiente confessario must content 
himself as a peccator mortalis ante missam with perfect contrition, then he must, of 
course, confess later, as soon as possible, and therefore have also in his contrition the 



318 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



need not enter into all these particulars. But when he has become 
familiar with all the theoretic and casuistic view-points of theology, then 
he will not be exposed to the danger of delivering jansenistic exaggerations. 
He will thus popularize the splendid, immensely consoling doctrine of 
love and of contrition. The preacher should herewith describe and 
explain, in a persevering manner, the entire consolation following from 
all points of the precept of confession and the inestimable benefits flow- 
ing therefrom. Thus he will preach according to the spirit of the Gospel 
and of the Church. 

NB. ad 6. The doctrine of perfect contrition and of justification by 
contrition is one of the most important duties of the pastor of souls. By 
fostering frequent confession, by a good administration of the sacraments, 
by inducing the people to elicit every evening and at the beginning of the 
holy mass {at confiteor and the Kyrie) a perfect act of contrition, the pastor 
of souls could easily preserve the greater part of his parish in a state of grace, 
a fruit of the utmost and of an immeasurable consequence. 

Seventh question. Is imperfect contrition sufficient for confession 
and which imperfect contrition? 

(a) Imperfect contrition is sufficient for confession. This follows 
from the nature of the sacrament of penance, from the practise of the 
Church, and from the express doctrine of the Council of Trent, Sess. 
XIV, c. 4, 5, as well as from several propositions condemned afterwards. 

(b) It must be a supernatural imperfect contrition. It must be 
(a) a real contrition, i.e., a detestation of and sorrow for sin as an 
offense against God. Therefore, in the formula of imperfect contri- 
tion the thought should be contained: because I have offended God 
(and deserve hell, etc.). It must furthermore be: (/?) a real super- 
natural sorrow, i.e., a sorrow with supernatural grace, which is never 
wanting, and from a supernatural motive, f.i., from the amor spei of 
imperfect love, which loves God as a bonum nobis, or from some other 
supernatural motive of virtue or motive arising from the hideousness 
of sin. According to the Council of Trent it should be (y) a sorrow 
with an initium dilectionis. If this passage of the Council of Trent be 
compared with the definition of justification and with the theological 
disputation before and after Trent, then it may be said: (aa) a real act 
of perfect love is not hereby required; (bb) only acts are required 
which bring us nearer to real perfect love. Whoever, therefore, confesses 
and is sorry for his sins from imperfect contrition and a hope included 
therein of pardon has surely the required initium dilectionis. 

votum to confess as soon as possible. But this arises from the precept of the Church 
which obliges him in mortal sin to become reconciled before communion through 
confession. And in case this were impossible for a priest, a new positive law of 
the church binds him to confess "as soon as possible." 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



On account of the importance of the matter and of many miscon- 
ceived explanations, which have crept into homiletic literature from 
time to time, we have introduced the theological presentation into the 
range of our homiletic meditations. 

Since the definition of perfect love and contrition is so necessary 
for the preacher, he must remember, on the other hand, the words of 
the Imitation of Christ: Melius sentire compunctionem, quam scire ejus 
definitionem. The foregoing definition shows that to elicit a perfect 
act of contrition and of love is, as a supernatural work, very difficult, 
aye, for the purely natural man — impossible. But the Church teaches 
as positively that an act of love and contrition with God's grace is 
relatively easy and possible for all. If anywhere then precisely here are 
the words of God applicable: Jugum meum suave est et onus meum leve. 
Nothing pertains more to the yoke of Christ than the precept and the 
exercise of love. Consider, also, the publican in the temple (compare 
also pp. 105 and 106, n. 5). Hence we will also add to this subject a 
homiletic-pastoral presentation. 

(B) A homiletic-pastoral orientation. The following important 
points of psychology and of grace are most worthy of consideration : 

1 . The transition from imperfect to perfect love. The transition from 
imperfect love and contrition to perfect is comparatively easy. Aye, 
we cannot even consider and love God, as the summum bonum in Him- 
self, without having first perceived Him as the summum bonum]nobis. 
The transition from so-called grateful love to perfect love is almost 
necessary. The homilist must consider the following differences and 
degrees in the contemplation of which the most important relative and 
pastoral question may be answered at the same time: Is grateful love 
perfect love and a motive of perfect contrition ? (a) If the gift and not the 
giver be exclusively considered, then the affection is no love. b. If 
you ascend from the gift to the giver, if you consider, therefore, God 
in as much as He is your benefactor, something good to us — bonum 
nobis — then this is a Christian supernatural love, though imperfect. 
(c) But if you ascend from the thought of the gift and the giver, who is 
so beneficent to us, to the person of the giver so worthy of love, and if 
you dwell upon the person and His attributes, then this grateful love has 
become a genuine, perfect love: sisto in persona amata propter se. This 
is really the genuine psychological and easiest way to perfect love and 
contrition. We need therefore not be anxious about removing in any 
way the thought of a grateful love from our acts or the formula of con- 
trition. For we first recognize God as the summum bonum nobis and 
then only as bonum in se. It would almost be necessary to use force 
in order not to arrive at perfect love through the noble, deep, and grate- 
ful love. We find here an astonishing analogy in the terrestrial, aye, 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



even in the purely, natural life and intercourse of human beings. A 
benefactor has adopted a foundling and reared him as his own. In the 
advanced years of the latter the deeds and the beneficence of his guardian 
will often rise before his soul and he will love him as his benefactor (im- 
perfect love). But he would have to be a stone, a moral block, were he 
not to ascend to the higher thought that the benefactor is indeed a 
noble man, a lovely character, a soul as good as gold. Now the young 
man rests in the person of his benefactor — this moves him to love. And 
this is perfect love. 

Now apply this, viewed from a point of faith, to God. Mine eye, 
wonderfully constructed, and the ray of light that strikes it are benefits 
of God, gifts of God. The breath, the pulsation of the heart — aye, 
everything that surrounds me — all that is here — is for me. From 
Bethlehem to Calvary I find mere footprints of divine goodness {bonum 
nobis). And when these footprints of love begin to become bloody, 
when the fourteen Stations begin, the deeds of God become ever greater, 
ever more immeasurable : He Who suffered for us a bloody sweat, Who 
was scourged for us, etc. The attributes of God, the most attractive 
and the most lovely ones, loom constantly more brightly. And now we 
stand still on Calvary's height, before Jesus, before His divine person, 
before Him Who is our God and Redeemer (transition to perfect love) . 
Whoever acts as He did, is good, is better than all beings. Aye, He is 
the good God Himself. "One is good, — God," who is goodness Him- 
self, good of Himself. Whoever sacrifices himself thus, whoever suffered 
thus, whoever saves and redeems thus, whoever can and will save — is 
God, the supreme good, — is worthy of all love. Thus the Saviour 
appeals on the cross, with His head covered with blood and wounds, 
with His heart opened, as the supreme good, most worthy of all love, 
before which we should stand still and which moves us to love and 
contrition, aye, forces us toward Him (perfect love). If sorrow over 
sin enters into this love, as an offense to this eternal and only good God, 
this one and unique good, — then perfect love and contrition will arise. 
The personality of God, the attributes of God Himself now will move 
us. This is the way upon which the homilist and the catechist should 
move. 

2. The discovery of the motive of perfect love. We have already 
remarked that we find God, the infinitely good, Who moves us to perfect 
love and also all the divine attributes which do the same, nowhere more 
beautiful, more perfect, more vivid nor brighter than in the life of Christ. 
The Gospel is, therefore, the real and first book of love. Aye, one of the 
principal aims of the Gospel and the life of Jesus consists in the desire 
to move us to perfect love. Therefore, select 

(a) several scenes of the life of Jesus, in which the Son of God or 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



His divine attributes shine forth like the rising sun, and treat them so 
that the hearers will stand still before the person of Jesus and will permit 
themselves to be moved by Jesus to love and attrition. If, f.i., we 
should explain the Gospel of the calming of the storm at sea — then the 
power of Jesus will appear — before whom the storm takes flight and 
the surging of the billows suddenly become calm — so great, so lofty, 
so infinitely beautiful and good and worthy of love, that we are forced 
to exclaim with the disciples overwhelmed with astonishment: Who is 
He? And the Gospel answers: It is the almighty power of Jesus in its 
entire grandeur and beauty, in its full force and mildness. And the 
glory and the loveliness of this almighty power of Jesus, of this omnipo- 
tent Jesus, is capable of moving us to perfect love. Thus, from all the 
chapters of the Gospel, taken either separately or collectively in one 
grand view, powerful motives of love and of contrition may be collected 
which will effect the people mightily. Therefore, the preacher might, 
not only ex professo, but often also, as it were, in passing, f.i., in a 
homily, incite to perfect love and contrition, excite in his hearers an 
act of perfect love and contrition. The more lovely and attractive the 
infinite attributes of Christ are, which loom from particular chapters of 
the Gospel, the easier is the way to perfect love. There are thousands 
of occasions to ascend from the benefits to the divine benefactor, and to 
rest before His person, the sole and eternal good, in a loving and con- 
trite manner. The acts of the Apostles compress the entire life of 
Jesus within the immortal saying: Pertransivit benefaciendo. It is the 
passing by of eternal love. But in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist 
and in all the sacraments, this blessing and loving passing by is re- 
newed to this very day. But, above all, in order to awaken thoughts 
of contrition, the preacher should select 

(b) scenes from the Passion of Christ. Where the footprints of the 
passing, blessing, the saving and redeeming Christ begin to become 
bloody, there begins likewise the truly royal road of love: Select, there- 
fore, some particular scenes; explain them exegetically, correctly, and 
deeply, full of feeling, and permit the great attributes of goodness and 
of love and of the mercy of God to shine forth from them like flames of 
fire. Or, collect several scenes of the Passion into one whole picture 
and point out to the people the highest and the most lovely good on 
Calvary's bloody height. These paintings and narratives of the Pas- 
sion of Christ must be, however, well prepared. The fourfold, lovely, 
and comprehensive description of the Passion of Christ by the Gospels 
should serve as a warning to the preacher not to conceive this, his task, 
too lightly nor too superficially. (Compare above the paragraph on 
Passion Sunday, and below, n. 5 : Cycles on the Passion of Christ, also 
the paragraphs on Holy-week.) 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



D. The entire conception of Penance. The preacher must pre- 
sent the sacrament of penance as something great, something 
ennobling, serious, but at the same time as something that makes 
man happy and fills him with delight. He should never forget 
the significant salutation of peace with which Christ begins His 
solemn Easter-sermon on confession. The love of the Redeemer, 
which Christ extends to the sinner, the deep psychology of the 
word, of the treatment, and of the grace with which He attracts 
men in order to impress them mightily, must also be typical of the 
tone of the sermon on confession. From such view-points read, 
f.i., the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. He 
arouses her interest mightily for the high, the ennobling, the super- 
natural, and the divine, then He penetrates into the very midst of 
her soul and shows her the great wound of sin. Now the entire 
activity of the physician manifests itself. It is not a declaiming 
against the opponents of confession and of those who receive Holy 
Communion only at Easter that leads to the judgment-seat of 
mercy, but it is the revelation of the greatness of the act of God 
and of men, the deed of man, which is enacted in the confessional. 
(Compare above, the Third Sun. of Lent, also the collection of 
sketches for Christmas-tide. Furthermore, N. 5, p. 323, and the 
following paragraph and the paragraphs on Holy-week.) 

E. Holy Communion. It is of the utmost importance to develop 
here the promise, the institution, the fruits, and the blessings of 
Holy Communion. We have already expressed ourselves, in due 
time, during the development of the liturgy of the Fourth Sunday 
of Lent, upon the principal theme of this Catholic sermon. (See 
below — Holy Saturday, Low Sunday, and the feast of Corpus 
Christi.) Note especially: 

(a) Christ Jesus in the sacrament. 

(b) Union with the person of Christ, the life (grace), the virtue, 
and the blessing of this sacrament. # 

(c) The happiness of this sacrament: it is only excelled by 
one single other happiness: that of heaven. Holy Communion 
gives us Christum velatum, Heaven: Christum revelatum. 

(d) Preparation and the sequence of communion: the highest, 
human Christian effort. 

(e) Love, the most steadfast fidelity, persevering love after 
communion. All this should appear as the zenith of Easter. (Com- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 323 

pare above the IV. Sunday of Lent, Holy Thursday, Easter, and 
Easter-week, Low Sunday, the II. Sunday after Easter, etc.) 

5. Cycles on the Passion of Christ 

A. The importance of a sermon on the Passion of Christ. The 
Passion of Christ belongs to the principal themes of sermons. 
Sermons on the Passion of Christ are absolutely necessary. This 
follows: 

(a) From the central dogmatic, pragmatic, and ascetic signifi- 
cance of the Passion of Christ. 

(b) From the example of the four Gospels. The four Gospels 
are, in a manner, really inspired sketches of the sermons of the 
Apostles. In spite of the variety of the standpoint of the several 
Evangelists, in spite of the variety of the selection of material on 
their part, all give an extensive and detailed description of the 
Passion of Christ. The Apostles and the Evangelists, therefore, 
placed a very extraordinary value upon the sermon on the Passion 
of Christ. 

(c) From the pastoral principles of the Acts of the Apostles 
and of the Apostolical letters. The addresses of the Apostles con- 
tained in the Acts, and likewise in the letters of the Apostles, often 
unfold, in a remarkable manner, the central significance of the 
Passion of Christ. Besides, the Apostolic Letters often point to 
the preceding oral and very extensive descriptions of the Passion 
of Christ. Thus St. Paul writes to the Christians of Galatia: 
Christ Jesus hath been set forth before your eyes, as if He had been 
crucified before you. (Gal. Ill: 1.) The homiletic principle of 
the same Apostle is well known: Praedicamus vobis Christum 
crucifixum, Dei sapientiam et Dei virtutem. (I Cor. 1: 22 sqq.) 
We often meet in the Apostolic Letters ascetic exhortations, in 
connection with thoughts on the Passion of Christ. 

(d) From ecclesiastical liturgy, which makes the Passion of 
Christ the center and the subject of its exalted worship, especially 
in Lent, but most particularly during Passion-tide and Holy-week. 
Besides, according to the command of Christ Himself, every cele- 
bration of the mass is a memorial celebration of the Passion of 
Christ. Since the people today no longer take part in celebrating 
the whole of Holy-week, and since, furthermore, Palm Sunday is 
less adapted for preaching activity, therefore the Good Fridays are 
in themselves not sufficient for sermons on the Passion of Christ. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



It is a specially grave duty for the pastor to treat the principal 
subject of Christian doctrine, from time to time, in all admis- 
sible cycles of sermons during Lent. We should also here like to 
recall the reading of the Passion during Holy-week, the great 
significance of the devotion of the Stations, of Calvary, and of the 
Passion, also the devotion in honor of the Sacred Heart, but espe- 
cially the introduction of the people into the liturgy of Holy-week 
by means of catechetical instructions, sermons, and pious literature : 
all this will serve to attain a deeper conception of the Passion of 
Christ. 

B. Methods of Sermons on the Passion of Christ 

(a) We must place a great value upon the indirect preparation 
of a sermon on the Passion of Christ, and for this purpose we should 
like to make a very concrete proposition which we do not, of course, 
wish to be considered of a mere stereotyped form. i. To gain a 
proper disposition read or consider the excellent chapters of the 
Imitation of Christ: de paucitate amatorum crucis Christi, and de 
regia via crucis. 2. Read the entire Passion of Christ according 
to the four Gospels or the collective account of the four Evangelists 
in some harmonized Gospel (f.i., in the Life of Christ compiled 
from the four Gospels, by J. Lohmann and V. Cathrein, S.J., in 
Latin or in German, Junfermann, Paderborn: the more recent 
editions are especially practically arranged. This book ought find 
a place in every preacher's library. This obligated recommenda- 
tion is not a mere phrase). 3. Read, probably one or the other of 
the various parts of Catherine of Emmerich, not with a view of 
ventilating the visions in the pulpit, but solely to cultivate a proper 
disposition for the meditation of the Holy Scriptures. 4. Next, 
enter deeply into the dogma of the Passion of Christ which is given 
in a simple and in an exceedingly attractive and astoundingly 
fruitful manner by St. Thomas, III. p. q. 46-53 (as a guide to this 
read Portmann, Das System der theol. Summe, S. 331 sqq.). 
Eventually use a recent dogmatic work (Willmer, Hettinger, Hur- 
ter, Scheeben, Heinrich, etc.). 5. Finally secure, if still necessary, 
a small selection of literature for sermons on the Passion of Christ. 
6. After having thus, at least partly, worked — with pen in hand — 
then the preacher ought collect the scenes of the Passion of 
Christ, those he wishes to treat of, note therein the dogmatic 
and the moral, not in an artificial manner, but for every scene 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 325 



(sermon) sharply defined thoughts of a certain aim, or he ought 
select dogmatic and moral themes and gather for these scenes of 
illustrations from the Passion of the Lord. The material must 
thus be properly arranged, disposed, and partly also eliminated. 
For this purpose the meditations on the Passion of Christ of Loh- 
mann (new special edition of 1888 sqq.) affords a varied direction. 
This is, of course, no method for a next Sunday sermon. But he 
who prepares, from time to time, such a cycle of sermons indirectly, 
works for years ahead and will, above all, place the person of the 
suffering Redeemer in the foreground of his sermons: Praedicamus 
vobis Christum crucifixum. . . . Dei sapientiam et Dei virtutem 
(I Cor. 1: 22 sqq.). 

(b) For a direct elaboration we would recommend : 

(a) Special selected scenes or stations of the Passion of Christ, 
f.i., the fourteen Stations, chapters of H0I3- Scripture, either of 
the harmonized Gospels or of the several Gospels. In all this 
narrate the Passion of Christ according to a carefully written prep- 
aration in closest connection with Holy Scripture; 1 intersperse 
some fruitful exegetic explanations and psychological views of the 
interior of the God-man, some holy affections in a suitable manner, 
and conclude with an impressive practical central idea, as a fruit 
for the people (doctrine, souvenir, resolution). In fixing the cycle 
fix likewise the central, intended aim of the several scenes in order 
that the same affections and the same applications may not be 
repeated in the various sermons. (We again recommend to the 
preacher: Lohmann, Leben Jesu und Betrachtungen iiber das 
Leiden Christi; Grimm, Leben Jesu; Meschler, Life of Jesus; Dip- 
pel, Hattler, Kreuzweg; Belser, Geschichte des Leidens und Ster- 
bens, der Auferstehung und der Himmelfahrt des Herrn, Freiburg, 
Herder, 1903. Besides, we recommend: 

(b) Evangelical cycles on the Passion. Preach one year, f.i., on 
the Passion by Matthew, another year on the Passion by Mark, 
etc., by selecting all or only some of the scenes, dividing them and 
treating them exactly according to the conception of the respect- 
ive Evangelist. (See p. 379.) We desire to call the attention, 
furthermore, to: 

(c) Harmonized cycles on the Passion. Select from a harmonized 

1 A good exegetic and ascetic narrative of the Passion of Christ is a gift of God 
and a special art. Of St. Paul of the Cross the breviary relates on April 28; Prae- 
sertim Christi enarranda passione mirifica ejus orationis vis erat. 



326 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Gospel one part — of the history of the Saviour, and follow the 
same chronologically, step by step, while dividing the matter into 
suitable chapters of thoughts. Thus, f.L, a very fruitful cycle 
might be delivered from Septuagesima Sunday to Easter — or, 
with a special reference to the interior life of the God-man, during 
the month of the Sacred Heart as sermons on the Sacred Heart. 
(We recommend likewise here, in the first place, the Evangelische 
Harmonie of Lohmann, also Grimm's Leben Jesu, also the homi- 
letic meditations on the Passion by Dippel, Kirchenjahr, III. B. S. 
274 sqq.) In these and all other lengthy cycle-scenes one should, 
above all, be clear and careful in the preparation of a plan of ser- 
mons in which the dogmatic and the moral applications or central 
thoughts should predominate. It is very much to be deplored 
whenever everything possible of a lengthy cycle is compressed into 
one solitary sermon. We desire furthermore: 

(d) Dogmatic cycles on the Passion of Christ. Above, in con- 
sidering the liturgic-homiletic treatment of Passion Sunday, we 
noted the rich dogmatic-pragmatic bearing of the Passion of Christ. 
In the paragraphs on Holy Week we will describe other view- 
points. Whatsoever the liturgy there compresses into one Sunday 
or one week that the preacher might extend to all Sundays of 
Lent. From the above mentioned sketches the preacher might 
be induced to prepare whole cycles for Lent. For the selection of 
themes and sketches we would especially recommend St. Thomas, 
III. q. 46-53. The preacher will marvel at the fruitfulness of 
several of these questions for homiletic purposes. We desire again 
to remind the preacher of the smaller "Handbook of Religion' ' by 
Willmer. Compare also the more ancient and the recent rich 
literature for sermons. Besides the old masters, Bossuet, Bourda- 
loue, Massillon, MacCarthy, Sailer, Foerster, Eberhard, the preacher 
should also take note of the more recent works of the book-market. 
Much that is useful and valuable has appeared in this field during 
recent years. 1 

(e) Moral-ascetic cycles which are developed from particular 
scenes: (a) The example of virtue or, (0) the characteristic features 
of Christ in general and of the suffering Christ in particular, and 
render these fruitful to the Christians; or, (y) open an insight into 
the inner life of the suffering Christ; also, (8) strive to unfold the 

1 We desire to draw especial attention to StiegePs Fastenpredigten iiber das 
Leiden Jesu. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 327 



entire concept of the Passion on the part of Christ and of the Chris- 
tians in an homiletic manner. Eminently important is, (e) the 
gaining of a motive of perfect contrition by love from the scenes 
of the Passion of Christ. (See above, sermons on confession, pp. 
318-322.) 

The study of some of the better tracts on virtue, f.i., of the 
Moral Theology of Muller, Gopfert, Lehmkuhl, Weiss, Apologie, 
vol. V (compare the table of contents), or of Thomas, II, II, in 
relation to a scene or a station of the Passion of Christ. Compare 
after this the thoughts thus gathered, f.i., on obedience or humility 
with the entire scene on Mt. Olive, and the well-known Pauline 
passages: semetipsum exinanivit — f actus obediens usque ad mortem , 
etc., and with the liturgy of the several days of Holy Week (see 
below paragraphs 35 sqq. on Holy Week). On the conception of 
the Passion by Christ and by the Christians, see above, pp. 88, 89, 
d. (on the impressiveness of the ideas and the words connected 
therewith under the circumstances. We also recommend: 

(f) Cycles of great summary conceptions of the Passion of Christy 
f.i., the commandments of God, the Way of the Cross — the losses 
of Jesus, the victories of Jesus, etc. 

(g) Liturgical cycles on the Passion of Christ for the entire Lent, 
(in close connection with the ceremonies of Holy Week and of 
Good Friday). 

(h) Cycles on the mysteries and the devotions of the Passion of 
Christ — the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary, the Way of 
the Cross, and cycles on these devotions themselves. 

6. Cycles on Christ. For these consult the homile tic-liturgical 
central ideas from Septuagesima to Easter (p. 257 sqq., and below: 
Principal themes, p. 746). 

A series of concrete recommendations for lenten sermons are 
also presented by the following paragraphs, especially the sketching 
of the liturgy of the several days of Holy Week and the description 
of the feast of the Sacred Heart, given below, p. 589 sqq. 

§ 32. Lenten Sermons {Plans of Sketches) 
First Cycle 

On the homiletic-liturgical central ideas consult the homiletic- 
liturgical outlines given above, pp. 288-458, and p. 564. They supply 
stimulation for several parallel cycles. 



328 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Second Cycle 

First Sunday of Lent. Temptation against the law. 

1. Are there temptations ? Yes indeed — experience and the Gospels 
affirm it. What is a temptation? Conatus wluntatem pertrahendi ad 
peccatum. These efforts to induce our will to sin arise (a) from within. 
There are rebels within us: existing in our sensual nature, with their 
inordinate passions — then there are rebellious impulses in the will 
itself, f.i., hatred, pride, motions against faith, etc. To this may be 
added (b) powerful efforts from without — on part of the world (see 
above I Sunday of Lent, p. 289), and most powerful ones on part of the 
Devil himself (see above I Sunday of Lent, p. 289). The Gospel of 
today establishes this very firmly: there are temptations. And this is a 
very serious fact with which we must reckon. The tempter approached, 
in shameful impudence, our Blessed Redeemer Who was inaccessible to 
every temptation from within (see Thomas, III p. de tentatione Christi). 
How much more easily does he approach us, because he hopes to 
find within us a combination of passions and evil propensities. It is 
impossible for us to enter upon the day indifferently. On the first pages 
of the Bible, in the beginning of history, God calls humanity to a 
combat against temptations (see above, p. 112, n. 3: The program for 
the redemption of humanity). And today, at the beginning of Lent, 
the Redeemer, engaged in a conflict, calls us to this battle (Gospel), in 
virtute Dei, per arma justitiae a dextris et a sinistris (Epistle). 

2. How are temptations overcome? We have just seen this in the 
Gospel through a grand and frightfully serious picture (see several 
ideas above I Sunday of Lent, p. 271 sqq.). How should we, therefore, 
overcome temptation? 

(a) We must not remain neutral. We must not be indifferent to 
whether we be children of God or children of sin. The whole Gospel 
forbids neutrality : — there is nothing more definite nor positive than 
the position of Christ against Satan in all these temptations (p. 272, note). 
Throughout the whole Gospel the forceful admonition pervades: "He 
who is not with Me is against Me." Quae conventio Christi ad Belial? 
(II Cor. 6: 15.) (See above p. 299.) 

(b) We must not overlook these things. Mere negative se habere et 
positive nullo modo resistere, peccatum est, attamen veniale non excedit, 
etsi motus versentur circa objectum sub gravi periculum proximum con- 
census {propter passiones vehementes vel alia ex causa) creaiur. It is 
indeed already a species of conflict not to consent. This may happen 
to an otherwise very conscientious person during several unguarded 
moments. He need not disquiet himself about a grievous sin. But a 
temptation, and especially a temptation to some grievous matter, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



creates a disorder in the soul, within our inner selves. The intelligent 
will, strengthened by grace, is the ruler. It is therefore the duty of 
the will to create order in some manner. How is this done? 

(c) We must despise the temptations quietly but firmly (contemnendo 
resistere positive) . In the Gospel of this day Christ shows us a deliberate 
and quiet contempt of Satan: Christ does not treat with him any more 
than is absolutely necessary. Thus, too, should the tempted Christian 
despise, f.i., seriously and quietly, all low and impure thoughts — like 
the barking of a dog to which the passer by pays simply no attention. 
Even insolent temptations against faith are often best dismissed by 
quiet contempt. In this manner of acting consists the simple thought 
of Christ: Dominum Deum tuum adorabis et illi soli servies, in opposition 
to all the complicated deceptions of Satan. Sometimes opposition alone 
is sufficient, oftentimes we must 

(d) combat temptations with the most varied positive means: obligatio 
positive resistendi existit, et haec resistentia plerumque sufficit. In today's 
Gospel the Saviour applies various means and arms in the conflict 
against Satan: repulse, scriptural passages, contempt, etc. And the 
Epistle admonishes us to make use of a strong armor : — with the armor 
of justice on the right hand and on the left! Compare the splendid 
passage: Accipite armaturam Dei, ut positis resistere in die malo, etc. 
Eph. 6 : 1 1-18. This passage might also be applied to the following points : 
What arms, what means should we make use of? 

(a) Above all — prayer to God: Orate ut non intretis in tentationem. 
(Matt. 26: 41.) This great admonition of Christ is a precept for the 
life of a Christian. Pray that ye enter not into temptation, that ye 
consent not. Say occasionally and somewhat more slowly and seriously 
the petition of the "Our Father": Lead us not into temptation, i.e., 
preserve us against all great temptations. Grant that we enter not 
into temptation. Deliver us under all circumstances from the one great, 
mighty evil — from sin. In connection with this the preacher should 
recommend, very urgently, aspirations in the hour of evil — such as 
this petition of the "Our Father" — the invocation of the Holy Name 
of Jesus — of the name of Mary, etc. He should show the great signifi- 
cance of these simple, but very important exercises. How great man 
appears when, in the hour of temptation, he raises himself up to heaven 
by a fervent prayer, such as: Jesus — help! Mary, come to my assist- 
ance! I will not! The preacher should also strengthen the confidence, 
which is sure of victory in those praying. Nothing indeed takes place 
in him who prays that could constitute a completely voluntary grievous 
sin: et galeam salutis assumite — the helmet of hope, which protects 
that which is most noble in us — our head, i.e., the believing intelligent 
will by the power of God — per omnem orationem et obsecrationem 



330 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



orantes omni tempore in spiritu : et in ipso vigilantes in omni justitia 
(Eph. 6: 18). 

(/?) The word of God. A word of Jesus, a word of Holy Scripture, 
a Catholic principle which we remember, often saves us immediately. 
Develop the example of the Gospel of this Sunday. The Apostle him- 
self admonishes us: Assumite gladium spiritus {quod est verbum Dei). 
Eph. 6: 17. The sermon, advice given in the confessional, spiritual 
reading of the Bible prepare for this: therefore the Apostle admonishes 
Christians in the description of their armor that they be: calceati pedes 
in praeparatione Evangelii pacis (Eph. 6: 15), "your feet shod with the 
preparation of the gospel of peace" (the sermon). Especially effective 
against temptations are thoughts on the last things. To the armor, 
moreover, belong: 

(y) God's images. Temptation often disturbs the imagination. 
This the impudent Satan tried on Jesus Himself, on the Mount: et 
ostendit ei omnia regna mundi et gloriam eorum. In such cases it is 
necessary to fight with the same weapons. Place the image of Christ 
before your soul — the image of the tempted, the militant Christ — ■ 
the image of Christ who calms the storms at sea — of the cross-bearing 
Jesus with His head covered with blood and wounds — Who says to 
thee: Would you, could you betray Me? the image of your last com- 
munion, at which the glorious, the risen Christ entered into your souls. 
(The preacher should not omit this training of the imagination. The 
biblical sermon especially, the homily, the unfolding of the life of Christ 
is also in this direction most important.) All may be conceived in one 
thought — turn Satan and his imps quietly, contemptuously and seri- 
ously away, now with these and then with other weapons — but turn 
him away — by all means: Vade, Satana! 

Thus the conclusion of the Gospel will likewise be fulfilled in us, 
in an invisible manner: Tunc reliquit eum diabolus, et ecce Angeli 
accesserunt et ministrabant ei. 

We have dilated somewhat upon this sketch in order to show how 
easily and readily the material of moral and ascetic theology might be 
combined with the Bible and liturgy. 

(B) Second Sunday of Lent. The Law itself. Main catechetical 
sermon on the two tablets or their more important commandments (see 
above II Sunday of Lent, p. 279 and below p. 334, fifth cycle. Ev. 
Themata. 1. Christ the Lawgiver (short). 2. Christ's Law. 

(C) Third Sunday of Lent. Return to the law through confession. 
The main catechetical sermon on confession: 1. contrition; 2. con- 
fession; 3. absolution. (Points 1 and 3 short, 2 somewhat more 
extensive, see above 308-322.) 

(D) Fourth Sunday of Lent. Power to keep the Law: 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 331 



Holy Communion 

Show, in a striking manner, the power of keeping the law that flows 
from holy communion, (a) Union with the person of Christ: omnia 
possum in eo, qui me confortat. We desire Christ alone, (b) Union with 
the life of Christ (grace: sicut me misit vivens Pater et ego vivo propter 
Patrem, et qui manducat me, vivet propter me) . Divine life proceeds from 
the Father to the Son from eternity. This divine life the Son of God- 
made-man brought upon earth. It deifies and glorifies His humanity, 
Christ's glorified flesh and blood, and, therefore, likewise the divine life 
of Christ — and His splendor and likeness : sanctifying grace. Christ 
came Himself to preserve this life within us. We receive holy com- 
munion in order never, never to fall from grace again. Christ entire 
enters within us and the power of His divinity remains, and with 
Christ something of God remains within us — grace, the second life 
which Christ desires to preserve at all cost. He ever repeats, " 1 remain" 
(John 6). I remain in him and the communicant remains in Me. Ex- 
amples: The martyrs, the father of a family; the tempted; the suffer- 
ing; those visited by misfortune: vivent propter me, they carry the 
beginning of heaven within themselves. 

(c) Union with the virtues of Christ. The gardener of our virtues 
appears to our souls, as He did once to Mary Magdalen on Easter morn. 
Behold, how the author and promoter of our faith will strengthen our 
faith. — Love itself enkindles in us a new Easter-fire of love: ignem veni 
mittere in terram et quid volo nisi accendatur! Behold, how our purity 
will be strengthened by the eternally Pure, etc! The divine power of 
Christ becomes in us, by holy communion, a gigantic power, in order 
that we may keep, in spite of all temptation (see above the I Sunday of 
Lent), — His Law: Si Deus pro nobis quis contra nos? (Particular 
explanations and particular resolutions.) 

(E) Atonement for the law violated. The sacrifice of the cross of 
Christ — renewed in the sacrifice of the mass : (a) The act of Christ, 
(b) our return in the sacrifice of the mass, the celebration of the Passion 
of Christ, (a) a duty to celebrate it. (/3) the manner of celebrating 
it. (See above, p. 294, Passion Sunday, p. 773 sqq., pp. 788, 812, 6.) 

Third Cycle: A Cycle on Confession 1 

Theme A. First Sunday of Lent. The examination of conscience. 
Christ in the desert. The Christian in the desert of his soul — he is 
alone before his God in the examination of his conscience. 

How should we examine ourselves? A word (a) on rendering an 
account (of sin) in general — of grievous sins — of forgotten sins — of 
1 See above, "Sermons on the Paschal Sacraments," p. 308-322. 



332 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

doubtful sins, etc. (Compare Moral Theology.) (b) A word of the 
examination of conscience, in particular. The preacher should empha- 
size the Christian moral sense of the one or other commandment as a 
guidance to a sincere and honest examination of conscience on all the 
commandments. This should not be a simple enumeration of sins but a 
substantial, incisive explanation of the range of duty of the one or the 
other commandment. All the commandments might be treated if the 
several would be placed rapidly into a proper light for the arousing of 
the conscience, in order to enter into the one or other more deeply, into 
the domain of duty, f.i., I Commandment: God and your thoughts. 
Do you believe? Do you confess your faith? Do you pray? How do 
you pray? Do you hear the word of God? Do hope and love pre- 
dominate in you? Herewith connect very short and pointed instruc- 
tions, taken from Holy Scripture, dogma and moral on faith, on prayer, 
etc., and by the light of these explanations descend into the sphere of 
concrete life. 

Theme B. Second Sunday of Lent. Contrition. The glorified 
Christ, who speaks to Moses and Elias concerning His end and His 
Passion, moves us to contrition : A retrospect into the life of Christ and 
a look forward into the Passion of Jesus, from the Mount of the Trans- 
figuration (see above p. 296 sqq) are calculated to awaken mighty motives 
of contrition. The Saviour Who lived and suffered and was glorified for 
us, appears as the sole good, as the eternal love, as the good most worthy 
of all love, Who moves and forces us to a perfect contrition caused by 
love, by His teaching, by the conflict and struggle of His life (I point), 
by His glorious transfiguration on the Mount (II point), and by His 
immeasurable suffering (III point). If the preacher succeeds in putting 
into these two or three concentrated pictures of the life of Christ the 
divine attributes and glories of Jesus, in a very vivid manner, in the 
foreground and in contrast to our sins — then he will succeed, hie et nunc, 
and for the coming paschal confession, to arouse a genuine perfect love 
and contrition in the people. By such a method theology weaves its 
threads into contrition everywhere, but remains more latent according 
to the admonition of the Imitation of Christ: melius est sentire com- 
punctionem, quam scire ejus definitionem. Another, more dogmatic 
moral presentation might be contained in the view-point of: What 
is contrition? (Popularized theologumena on its essence and several 
attributes.) 

What moves us to contrition? (Popularized theologumena on the 
motive of imperfect and perfect contrition, before the transfigured and 
suffering Christ, with a vivid and fresh climax. See above: Sermons 
on the paschal sacraments: questions concerning contrition, p. 315- 
323)- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 333 



Theme C. Third Sunday of Lent. Confession. The casting out of 
the mighty Satan and of the dumb devil by the stronger Christ, effected 
through confession. 1. Must we confess? (A selection of solid proofs 
with apologetics interspersed; see above the paragraph on Sermons for 
Lent, especially on the paschal sacraments, p. 308 sqq.) 

2. How must we confess? Do not recount the attributes of con- 
fession always and every year according to the stereotyped form of the 
catechism, so that interest be not lacking, f.i., confess (a) as you 
would before the Hving God Himself (sincerely), (fi) as a reasonable 
Christian (entirely, plainly, and not excitedly. See p. 303 sqq.). 

Theme D. Fourth Sunday of Lent. Amendment of life. The liturgy 
shows us the liberator — Christ — Who longs to lead us to the paschal 
banquet. No longer permit yourselves to be put into chains. Qui 
facit peccatum, serous est peccati (John 8: 34). Upon such a back- 
ground depict an amendment of life (f.i., gathered from several chapters 
of Moral Theology in general and in particular) : (a) to form a con- 
science. Very briefly consider: What is conscience? What does it 
mean to form a correct, true, and safe conscience before acting and not 
to act blindly? Powerful and striking exhortations on conscience and 
conscientiousness (see, f.i., the doctrine on conscience in the moral 
theology of Gopfert, Miiller, Simar, Noldin, and of Cathrein); (b) to 
act with a free conscience, independent of passion, of pride and of human 
respect, f.i., as a man, a father, a mother, in selecting one's vocation, 
in the choice of marriage (introduce a digression on mixed marriages, 
on the exclusively Catholic education of children, etc.), in the active 
and daily life (pp. 282, 287, 434). 

NB. This sermon might also be shaped into a finishing of the first 
sermon, by selecting examples from the commandments, which ought 
be very briefly considered in a sermon on the examination of conscience. 
For this purpose the Bible likewise furnishes us, especially in the Acts 
of the Apostles, most powerful and most ideal and eminently practical 
thoughts. 

Theme E. Fifth Sunday of Lent. Satisfaction. 1. How did Christ 
make satisfaction? (See above, Passion Sunday, p. 294 sqq.) 2. How 
will you make satisfaction ? (Catechetical points given in a biblical, con- 
crete, ascetic, and pastoral practical light.) 

Fourth Cycle {cycle on Confession) 

Theme A. Confession. Proof taken from the Gospels. The insti- 
tution of confession is also "a word that proceedeth from the mouth of 
God upon which we live." (I Sunday of Lent.) For proof, see above, 
p. 333 sqq. on "Sermons for Lent." Methodical. 

Theme B. Confession. Proof from Church history (II Sunday of 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Lent). For proof and apologetics see § 31, Sermons on the paschal 
sacraments. 

Theme C. Objections against confession. (Ill Sunday of Lent.) 

Theme D. The effects of Christ through confession. (Fruits of con- 
fession through absolution.) 

Theme E. Our results through confession. 1. Contrition. 2. Con- 
fession (with the examination of conscience as a guide to confession). 
See p. 308 and Obweger, die "Wahrheit iiber die Beicht" (sermons, 
Salzburg, 1904), also "Segur's Familiar Answers." 

Fifth Cycle (cycle on confession) 

Theme A. Examination: God and your thoughts (I Commandment 
of God), (a) Your faith, (b) Your prayer, (c) Your hearing of the 
word of God (contrition and its motives for sin against the I Command- 
ment). 

Theme B. Examination: God and your speech (II Commandment), 
God and your time. (Your week consecrated by the Sunday. Rest 
from work; rest in God; duty-advice.) Contrition and motives of 
contrition for sins against the II and III commandments, see p. 297. 

Theme C. Examination: You and your fellow-men (V Command- 
ment) : not to kill — not to injure — ordinate self love and love of 
neighbor (contrition for these sins and motives thereof). 

Theme E. Examination: You and your goods (a) goods of chastity; 
(b) goods of fortune; (c) goods of honor in the eyes of God. (Contri- 
tion, and its motive, for these sins.) 

NB. This cycle could, more properly, be developed into from 8-10 
sermons. 

Sixth Cycle 

Cycle on Christ, as homiletic or sequence sermons, according to the 
liturgical developments on p. 288, sqq., 395; see p. 564 sqq. 

A. Christ as an example. 

B. Christ as a lawgiver. 

C. Christ as a conqueror. 

D. Christ as a host. 

E. Christ as a sufferer. 

§ 33. Holy Week (Fourth Step) 

I. Historical remarks. Holy Week is the week that precedes 
Easter Sunday. Its history is therefore most intimately connected 
with the interesting and rich history of the feast of Easter. For 
the historical development of the feast of Easter we refer to the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 335 



explanation given in the account of that solemn feast, and also 
to the history of the Church. 

Holy Week enjoyed, even from ancient times, a special name: 
septimana major (later: hebdomada major). We refer, f.i., to Chrys- 
ostomus, Horn. 30, in Gen., and also to the Peregrinatio Silviae. 
The German name is derived from the Gothic kara — solitude, the 
old German chara, kara — lamentation, suffering; the middle- 
high-German Kar — lamentation, sorrow. 1 The derivation from 
the Old- German, borrowed word — karina from carence (carenzie, 
car erne), or from the Greek, x a P L ^ — grace, favor, from charm — 
dear, beloved, from carucca (Rassel, Rasselkaren) , from the German 
"gar" (Riistwoche, Holy Week) is not well-founded. The most 
complete and ancient source of the history of the liturgy of Holy- 
week is the oft-mentioned description given by the Gallican pilgrim 
Silvia of Bordeaux, who assisted at the solemnities of Holy 
Week in Jerusalem one year before the death of Cyrill, and who 
gives us a detailed account thereof. The re-discovery of the ancient 
description has overthrown a series of hypotheses of archeologic- 
liturgical investigations. We now see pretty clearly that the 
sacred places of Jerusalem have given an impetus to a long series 
of impressive ceremonies, and that the liturgy of Holy Week in 
Jerusalem found gradually an imitation in the whole Church of 
the East and of the West. 

We can enter into the details more properly in the consideration 
of the several days of Holy Week. 

II. Liturgic homiletic points. Should we wish to reduce the 
inestimable wealth of Holy Week to a few fundamental thoughts, 
then we ought emphasize the following view-points in connection 
with the entire Lenten and paschal time : 

1. The celebration of the Passion of Christ. This celebration of 
the Passion is no longer a preparatory one, as it is during Lent, 
nor a merely general one, as it is in Passion-week, but an entirely 
exclusive, exhaustive, and an universal one. The Church now 
says with the Apostle: Non enim judicavi me scire aliquid inter 
vos, nisi Jesum et hunc crucifixum. (I Cor. 2:2). Now she desires 
to direct the eyes and the souls of all toward the cross : ecce lignum 

1 The following are among other names: hebdomada major, h. sancta (v ayta /cat 
ficyaXrj e/35<vxas) hebdomada poenalis, nigra, authentica (ambrosian and gallican). 
The last singular name signifies probably: a precisely arranged and ordained week, 
or an authentically fixed week (according to the period of Easter). 



33° 



HOMILETIC AXD CATECHETTC STUDIES 



cruets, in quo sal us mundl pependit (the unveiling of the cross on 
Good Friday). Now the grand words of the first Corinthian letter 
(I. 23: 24) are fulfilled in the entire liturgy: nos autem praedicamus 
Christum crucfiixum, Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam. At the end 
of Holy Week the Church ma}- confess with the same Apostle: 
Ante oculos (vestros) Jesus Christus praescriptus est, in zvbis cruci- 
fixus. (Gal. 3:1; see also above : Sermons on the Passion of 
Christ.) The celebration of the Passion is manifold: 

(a) .4 historical memorial celebration of the Passion of Christ, 
contained in the Passion and the lessons: 

(b) A dramatic renewal celebration, especially in the solemn 
Passion and the liturgies of Palm Sunday and Good Friday: 

(c) An ascetic renewal celebration of the Passion of Christ, in 
the whole liturgy, from Palm Sunday to Good Friday, especially 
in the Psalms, the lessons, the antiphones, and the ceremonies, etc. 
The whole is a grand sermon on the crucifixion and burial of the 
old man and the resurrection of the new man with the risen Christ. 
(See Rom., ch. 6, and above, pp. 162 and 163, also p. 323 sqq. : 
Sermons of the Passion of Christ.) 

(d) A sacramental renewal celebration of the Passion of Christ, 
through the paschal sacraments and the Holy Sacrifice of the mass 
(p. 308 sqq.). Holy Week is especially: 

2. A celebration of the baptism of Christians, i.e., the last imme- 
diate preparation for baptism, confirmation, and Holy Communion. 
As long as the catechumenate existed in its fullest extent, and even 
long thereafter, Holy Week was the last immediate preparation 
for the paschal term of baptism. Even today it is this — a cele- 
bration of our baptism, in which the old man was crucified with 
Christ and buried with Him, in which we ceased to be the bearers 
of sin, since there was scarcely any room in us for sin. (See Grisar, 
Geschichte Roms und der Paepste, n. 527-539, p. 794-810. See 
below, Holy Saturday, above, the IV. Sunday of Lent, and espe- 
cially also p. 162.) Holy Week is moreover: 

3. The real solemn time for the penance of Christians, the last 
and immediate preparation for reconciliation of the penitents with 
God and the Church through the second baptism. This concept 
applies especially to ancient and modern times. 

Holy-week is likewise: 

4. A preparatory celebration, a direct preparatory celebration for 
Easter. It leads us slowly and solemnly over the bloody path of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 337 



the grandiose opus redemptionis to its completion on Good Friday 
and its coronation in the night of Easter and on Easter-day. The 
entire Holy Week is a liturgic-homiletical climax, which attains 
its first climax on Easter-night (now in the anticipated night- 
service of Holy Saturday morning) , and on Easter Sunday it reaches 
its culminating point: aeternitatis aditus. (See the oration of 
Easter, and also especially, p. 507-509.) Holy Week is furthermore : 

5. A solemnization of Lent. Holy Week, during which the 
Bridegroom is taken from us, was, in all times, the strictest time 
of Lent. (See above, History of Lent, pp. 250 sqq.) Holy Week 
is finally: 

6. A Week of holy days. During the post-Constantine age the 
great week developed into a real week of solemnities. At first the 
courts were closed, afterwards public recreations and public works 
ceased, and, finally, ecclesiastic-civil days of rest were extended 
over the entire week. (Const. Apost. 8: 33.) As late as 1234 the 
entire Holy Week was enumerated in the decretals of Gregory IX 
among the generally adopted holidays and recognized by the Pope. 
The contrary custom, however, was recognized by Urban VIII on 
Sept. 13, 1648. Holy Week maintains a real unique liturgical 
precedence today, and the Triduum Sacrum is even duplex I. classis, 
same as the solemn feasts. If a holy day occurs during Holy 
Week, it is celebrated, but its liturgical solemnity in choro et foro 
is postponed. In this case several masses de die may be said on 
Maundy Thursday. The feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed 
Virgin is postponed on Good Friday and Holy Saturday pro choro 
et foro, because its occurrence on these days is often possible. On 
any other holy day occurring on Good Friday or Holy Saturday, 
the command to abstain from servile works remains in force, but 
the precept of hearing mass ceases entirely on Good Friday, on 
Holy Saturday it loses at least its full extent. Feast days occur- 
ring during the Triduum Sacrum should not be considered in the 
sermons, at least not in first line, because the Church commem- 
orates solely the Passion of Christ. The fact that the days of 
Holy Week and especially Good Friday are not ecclesiastical holy 
days, may be justly considered today as an expression of sorrow. 
But to behold herein an entirely special confession of Catholic 
sentiment contrary to that of other faiths, would be unwise and 
unjust. The historical development bars any such conception. 
The abolition of the holy days was simply the sanctioning of a grad- 



338 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ually rising claim of customs, opposed to the earlier strong demand 
which established a law of custom of an entire week of holy days. 
Modern conditions make it often impossible for our laboring people 
to assist at the celebration of the exalted and deeply significant day 
of the death of the Lord and its impressive divine sendee, and, 
especially for homiletic reasons, we would welcome an ecclesiastic- 
liturgical development which would put the seal of a holy day on 
Good Friday, with the prohibition of servile works and an encour- 
agement (not precept) to the assistance at the divine service and 
the sermon and to the visitation of the churches in general. Pre- 
cisely for these reasons we would not oppose a declaration of Good 
Friday as a civil holy day. 

After this general view we will consider the more important 
days of Holy Week more closely. Our homiletic task, in regard 
to the rich and easily accessible literature on the celebration of 
Holy Week, does not consist in an extensive homiletic paraphrase, 
but in leading the liturgy back to some grand central thoughts that 
animate it, in order to present the ceremonies and the entire 
liturgy as a support of the sermon on the suffering, crucified, 
buried, and Risen Christ. 

We recommend on this occasion the distribution of larger and 
also of smaller books on Holy Week, both among the cultured and 
the common people and lectures on the liturgy of Holy Week, lit- 
urgical Lenten sermons, etc. (Compare the paragraph on Lenten 
sermons.) 

§ 34. Palm Sunday 

The Triumphal Procession with Palms and the Triumphal 
Procession with the Cross 

I. Historical view. The unique celebration of Palm Sunday 
dates from the earliest Christian age. The name itself is very 
ancient: Dominica in ramis Palmarum, gr. KvpiaK-q rcov fiaLcov, also 
dominica competentium (of those competent to receive baptism). 

1. The palm-procession. Formerly it was thought that the 
palm-procession was introduced by Peter, Bishop of Edossa, about 
397, and some authors place its origin in the ninth century. But, 
since the re-discovery of the report of the Gallican pilgrim Silvia, 
we have a very clear idea of the origin of the palm-procession in 
Jerusalem. Silvia reports that, "On the Sunday before Easter 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the usual morning service takes place in the church of Golgotha, 
which at that time was called Martyrium. But about the seventh 
hour of the day, i.e., about i p.m., the people congregated before 
the cave of Mt. Olive, for a two-hours' devotion, consisting of 
psalms, hymns, lessons, and antiphones. About the ninth hour 
they ascended to the top of Mt. Olive (the Mt. of the Ascension) 
for renewed prayers and lessons, corresponding to the time and 
the day. About the eleventh hour the Gospel of the entry of 
Jesus into Jerusalem was chanted, and then they marched in solemn 
procession, carrying palms and olive branches and chanting the 
Benedictus qui venit from Mt. Olive through the valley of Cedron 
to the church of the Anastasis, within the city, where vespers 
were celebrated and an oration of the cross was sung." This is 
the most ancient report of the palm-procession of the year 385. 1 

This dramatic celebration in Jerusalem gradually entered the 
liturgies of all the churches. True, the most ancient sacramentaria 
neither indicate a palm-procession nor a palm-blessing, but several 
ritualistic features thereof. The Gregorianum is also silent on a 
solemn palm-blessing, but indicates the carrying of palms and of 
other branches, also speaks of a blessing of palm-bearers : Benedicat 
vos Deus . . . ut sicut ei cum ramis palmarum et ceterarum fron- 
diutn praesentari studiustis, etc. (Migne 78: 77.) Isidor of Seville 
designates the day as : dies palmarum, but seems not to know any- 
thing of a palm-procession; but he mentions the baptismal prayer 
of the catechumens, customary at one time in Spain on this very 
day {Dominica competentium) , and the traditio symboli connected 
therewith (see p. 290), and also the preparatory capitilarium. 
Amalarius of Metz speaks of carrying palm branches through the 
church and crying: Hosanna. (Amalarius de eccl. off. IV, 10; 
Migne 105, 1008.) During the middle ages the palm-procession 
appears everywhere, but not the blessing of the palms. The latter 
is still omitted in some dioceses of France. The Gallican rituals 
were the latest to adopt the palm-celebration. 2 

The branches used in southern countries are of palm and olive 
trees. The real palms were oftentimes brought from quite a dis- 
tance. In several northern regions, contiguous however to southern 
lands, olive branches are used. (Palm-market in Innsbruck.) 
In Switzerland evergreen and sprouting branches of holly (Ilex 
Aquifolium) are used, and of the hazel-bush (Corylus Avellana), etc. 
1 Peregr. Silviae, c. 30, 31. 2 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 42, 45. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



In certain towns of Switzerland high poles are ornamented in the 
shape of a tree with twirling sticks and holly wreaths and other 
branches and covered with beautiful apples (see the famous painting 
by Fellmann: Palm Sunday in Switzerland). 1 There were in fact 
many ingenious and poetic popular customs and Passion-plays, 
etc., connected with Palm Sunday during the middle ages, and 
still reaching unto our days. 

We may therefore follow the historical development of the 
palm-procession according to the following steps: 

(a) The palm-procession in Jerusalem, on the very spot; (b) 
separate ritualistic parts thereof in various churches and sacramen- 
taries; (c) the carrying of palms in churches; (d) the palm-procession; 
(e) the blessing of the palm branches; (/) the full development of 
the entire rite of the blessing of palms and the palm-procession 
according to the order of the mass with Introit, oratio, Epistle, 
Gospel, preface, and the prayers at the blessing. The preface of 
the blessing is manifestly analogous to the more ancient preface 
of the blessing of the baptismal water. 

II. Liturgic-homiletic considerations. The rich and splendid 
ritual of Palm Sunday contains two great central ideas. It speaks 
of a triumphal march of Christ with palms and of a triumphal 
march with the cross. 

A. The triumphal march with palms. The palm-procession is 
an introduction to Holy-week. It is a celebration of the divine 
royalty of Jesus, before He enters upon His Passion. As the Lord 
of heaven and earth, of the Jews and the pagans, of all ages and 
generations, of nature and the universe He enters into the holy 
city. (The eve of the Sabbath 2 before or Sunday morning of Holy 
Week, 783, u. c. See Grimm-Zahn, Leben Jesu, VII, p. 609 sqq., 
p. 615, and from another view: Behler 1, c, p. 21, p. 23, below, 
p. 24 sqq.) The Church assumed into her rite the homage of the 
Jewish people and made it her own, in the fullest and most perfect 
sense. She solemnly proclaims, for the last time, Christ as the 
Son of God before He disappears into the night of the Passion. 
For Lenten sermons on Palm Sunday see the Holy Scripture, 
especially the harmony of the Gospels on the events of Palm 
Sunday, f.i., Lohmann, Leben Jesu (German edition, n. 148 sqq., 
p. 221-224). The Holy Scripture and the liturgy contain a remark- 

1 A very exact colored imitation is for sale by Raeber & Co., Luzerne. 

2 Confer Belser, "Geschichte des Leidens Christi," p. 23 sqq., p. 25 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 341 



able climax of the development of Palm Sunday. We will here 
combine, into one picture, the thoughts of Holy Scripture and the 
liturgy of the Saturday of Passion-week and of Palm Sunday. 
Thus we obtain the following liturgic-homiletic gradation : 

(a) Christ the omniscient. He foretells to the disciples all the 
particulars concerning the arrangement of the coming events, in 
an exact manner. 

(b) Christ fulfilling all the great and small predictions by the 
prophets. 

(c) Christ, the Son of God, the Messias of Juda and of the nations. 
(a) proclaimed by the faithful; (JS) admired by the half -believing 
and saluted by the festive pilgrims of all countries; (y) received with 
enthusiasm by all; (S) Christ a scandal to the Pharisees and to all 
the enemies of faith; (e) Christ on the top of Mt. Olive, in triumphal 
procession, weeping over the city: Shedding tears of love and yet 
proclaiming the curse of infidelity; (£) Christ hailed by the whole 
city and all classes and by the festive pilgrims of all countries. 
(17) Christ acclaimed on all sides by the children and the infants 
amidst the pronounced envy of the Pharisees; (0) Christ sought 
by Greeks and pagans 1 (see the Gospel of the Saturday before 
Palm Sunday, John, c. 12), proclaiming Himself the redemption 
of the Jewish and the pagan world, by the parable of the mortifying 
grain of wheat and its burial in the furrows of the soil and loudly 
exhorting all to carry the cross; (t) Christ glorified by a voice 
of thunder in the temple coming from the Father: venit ergo vox 
de coelo: et clarificavi et iterum clarificabo; (*) Christ explaining 
this voice of the Father: et ego si exaltatus fuero a terra omnia traham 
ad meipsum — light and life will He dispense from the cross. His 
enemies will be visited by night and darkness; (X) Christ going 
forth to begin His Passion. Amidst the cries of hosanna and the 
festive lessons of the blessing of the palms the first plaintive re- 
sponses are heard concerning the meeting of the Pharisees, which, 
at Caiphas's motion, determined the death of Christ, and these 
responses are taken from the prayer of the Lord on Mt. Olive; 
(jjl)' Christ pardoning us through His glorious divinity and suffering 
humanity. The epistle of the blessing of the palms, of the twelve 
springs and seventy palm trees of the oasis of Elim, is a glorious 
image of the living waters of grace and of the sacraments which 
proceed from the God-man Christ Jesus, and flow unto us through 

1 Compare especially Belser, "Geschichte des Leidens," etc., Jesu, pp. 30-34. 



342 



KOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the Apostles and the disciples of Christ, and become within us a 
living source of water, which bubbles over into life eternal (see 
Eberhard's sermon on this passage: Homily on the Books of Moses, 
see also above, p. 109 sqq., n. 9 sqq., and p. 283, see also p. 63, 
p. 772 sqq.); (v) Christ blessing all nature and the universe (the 
blessing of palms). He who reads the Gospel of the Saturday 
before Palm Sunday at the celebration of the statio in the quiet 
basilica ad S. Joannem ante Portam Latinam, located near the 
present walls of the city at the gate of St. Sebastian, where a sort 
of a preparatory celebration of the palm-day takes, place through 
the announcement of the Gospel of St. John, c. 12, and compares 
it with the Gospel of the Sunday of Matt. 21, and with the palm- 
procession, will be forcibly struck by the overwhelming and just- 
sketched climax and its latent pathos. 1 The drama of Easter-week 
approaches its end. From the thunder clouds of the iniminent 
catastrophe shine forth once more, quickly flashing and immedi- 
ately disappearing rays of the light of the divine glory of Jesus. 
Half-suppressed flourishes of trumpets, announcing hope, resound 
from a distance. Spring, paying homage to Christ, kneels along 
the roadside and proffers in advance to the still veiled Lord of 
hearts and of nature the palm of victory and the first sprouting 
branches of renewed Easter-life: palmarum igitur rami de mortis 
principe triumphos expectant: surculi vero olivarum spiritualem 
unctionem advenisse quoddammodo clamant. (Third oration of the 
blessing of palms.) 

Amid such thoughts the solemn procession proceeds and voices 
the joy of the people on the first palm-day, but in spirit and in 
truth and without any other intentions and pretense. 

B. The triumphal procession with the cross. The Church, how- 
ever, emphasizes at once the thoughts of Palm Sunday. The palm 
branch becomes — as it really was — a prophecy of the entry of 
Christ into heaven with His redeemed people. But this is only 
accomplished by the Way of the. Cross. The procession of the cross 
is apparently a march of disgrace and of defeat. Christ goes 
forth to victory and collapses under the victorious banner of the 
cross; apparently He loses all and is conquered. Satan and his 
imps destroy even Christ's sacred humanity and pull down the 
temple of His body. But herein precisely they assist in His bloody 
victory: mors mortua tunc est, quando in ligno mortua vita fuit. 

1 See Belser, 1. c. p. 30-34. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



The veiled divinity of Christ makes the voluntarily suffered death 
of Christ an infinite atonement. Satan is unmasked, cast out, 
and he is deprived of his armor — the divinity reconstructs the 
destroyed temple of the humanity of Christ: Christ the Redeemer 
arises from the dead and redeems the spiritually dead. His march 
with the cross was a march of victory. (See above, § 30, p. 294 sqq., 
the III. Sunday of Lent and Passion Sunday, § 27, 280 sqq.; § 30, 
p. 294 sqq.) 

This is rendered imposingly simple and at the same time dra- 
matic at the conclusion of the palm-procession, in the solemn 
Passion and the office. 

(a) The conclusion of the palm-procession. The idea just ex- 
pressed becomes especially prominent at the return of the pro- 
cession into the church, which had been locked in the meantime. 
Chants and ceremonies symbolize the entry of Christ into heaven 
(the church) with humanity (clergy, procession) redeemed by the 
cross, the shaft of which is struck against the immediately opening 
(heavenly) door. 

(b) The solemn procession. The idea of the triumphal march 
of the cross becomes still more manifest through the Passion of 
St. Matthew, which is chanted or recited in mass. The chant of 
the Passion is a unique and dramatically suitable and yet a simple 
celebration of the march of the Passion of Christ to His death on 
the cross. The Church here describes and chants in a dramatic 
liturgy (Evangelists, Christus, turbo) the day of disgrace, which 
was transformed into such a tremendous march of the victory of 
the cross (compare above — sermons on the Passion of Christ, 
especially on the Passions). 

(c) The entire office supplements this twofold thought. 

(a) The orations and the chants of the masses and of the brevi- 
ary clothe the celebrated facts with the emotions of Christ and of 
the Christians. (See the Introit, gradual, tract, communio, the 
Psalms and the antiphones.) 

(/3) The preface, however, comprises the entire history of 
Providence in regard to Christ, the Christians, and the march of 
victory with palms and the cross in these significant words: Dens 
qui salutem humani generis in ligno crucis constituisti, ut unde mors 
oriebatur inde vita resurgeret: et qui (satan) in ligno vincebat in ligno 
quoque vinceretur per Ch. D. N. 

(y) But the whole office, especially the blessing of the palms, 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the orations and the lessons of the breviary, etc., invite the Chris- 
tians to follow the footsteps of Christ on His way of the cross: 
After Him, with Him, by Him, and according to His example and 
His intention — to the resurrection of heavenly glory: qui fecisti 
nos in morte Filii tui sperare quae credimus; fac nos eodem resur- 
gente pervenire quo tendimus (first oration of the blessing of the 
palms). Omnipotens Sempiteme Deus, qui huniano generi ad invi- 
tandum humilitatis exemplum S abator em nostrum crucem subire 
fecisti: concede propitius, ut et patientiae ipsius habere documenta et 
resurrectionis consortia mereamur. Per Ch. D. N. (Oration of the 
mass) — Hoc enim sentite in vobis } quod et in Christo Jesu: qui cum 
in forma Dei esset, semetipsum exinanivit, etc. (Phil., c. 2, from 
the Epistle of the mass.) 

Thus, with Schuech (Pastoraltheologie, p. 888, 10. ed.) we 
might ascribe to the palm-celebration a historical, a prophetic, 
and a mystical significance: historic (Gospel of the first palm- 
procession of the triumphal entry) — prophetic (as a symbol of 
the entry of Christ into heaven with the cross) — and mystical (a 
symbol of our entry into heaven with the cross), in order to receive 
the palm of victory. 

The arrangement of the celebration itself, which begins with 
the typifying exodus of the Children of Israel from the land of 
Egypt (lesson of the blessing of the palms), in order then to pass 
on to the celebration of the procession from Bethphage on Mt. 
Olive to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to Golgotha, bears still 
today a character of the description given by Silvia Peregrina in 
the year 385. 

§ 35. The First Tridtjtjm of Holy Week 

The Passion of the Lord 

The historical reports of the first triduum, which has the impress 
of a quiet celebration, are comparatively few. 

Silvia reports from Jerusalem that on Tuesday a procession 
again took place to Mt. Olive, where the lessons of Matthew, c. 25, 
were read. On Wednesday the Gospel of the betrayal by Judas 
was read in the same place, at which the people wept in an audible 
manner and lamented. The homiletic complexion of this lesser 
observed triduum is, however, very rich. A systematization is 
indispensable for a homile tic-liturgical treatment. For the first 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



part of Holy Week this is more difficult than usual. He who 
comprehends the liturgy of these first days more fully, and espe- 
cially the missal, and who has penetrated into its import more 
thoroughly, will possibly not find fault if, in dwelling upon a pic- 
ture of the Passion-hymns, we enclose the rich and oft-recurring 
significance of the thoughts of these days, which evince a striking 
progress in the development and the unfolding of the entire Passion- 
tide, within the following systematizing settings which, however, 
is not an attempt, in any way, to do violence to the several lit- 
urgical thoughts. 

1. The root of the tree of the cross. Doubtless, the deepest root 
is the interior sentiment of the suffering Christ. This is made 
manifest on Monday. Then He appears to us as an illustration 
of the words of St. Peter: Christo passo in came et vos eadem cogi- 
tatione armamini. (I Pet. 4: 1.) The fundamental thoughts are 
found in Psalm 34, which permeate the whole liturgy. (See also 
below, feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.) 

2. The fruits of the tree of the cross. These are culled from the 
cross on Tuesday of Holy Week — crux in qua est (gloria) salus, 
vita et resurrectio nostra. This fundamental thought is developed 
in the Introit, which dominates the office. 

3. The power of the tree of the cross. This is unfolded on Wednes- 
day when the vicarious satisfaction of Christ is proclaimed in a 
grand manner. Here the Epistle, Isa., c. 53 (the servant of God), 
contains the central thought. The Passion presents for this a grand 
illustration and throughout the alternating chant this thought 
permeates. The quiet churches of St. Praxedis in Rome, with 
the reminder of the pillar of the scourging, and of St. Prisca on the 
Aventin, pass for the first two points of the indicated thoughts, 
and the great basilica of St. Mary Major for the solemn proclama- 
tion of the vicarious satisfaction of Christ, on Wednesday. 

§ 36. The Monday of Holy Week 

The Root of the Tree of the Cross: the Interior Sentiment of Christ: 
eadem cogitatione armamini 

The Monday of Holy Week is a unique celebration of the Pas- 
sion. The history of the Passion is not read today, probably to 
reserve the Passion of Mark, Luke, and John for Tuesday, Wednes- 
day, and Friday. Instead thereof the Gospel of the anointing of 



346 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Christ by Mary at Bethany is substituted. (John, c. 12: 1 sqq.) 
The designation of the time — ante sex dies paschae — according 
to the Christian calculation of weeks — on the Monday before 
Easter 1 (see pp. 407-410, 455) — influenced, undoubtedly, besides 
the hereafter developed thoughts, the selection of the Gospel for 
this day. The history itself develops the interior sentiment of 
the suffering Christ and the interior sentiment of the Christians, 
who co-celebrate the Passion of Christ. 

I. The interior sentiment of Christ suffering. This Monday 
secures for us an insight into the heart of the suffering Jesus. We 
select systematically therefrom the following thoughts which per- 
meate the office and the mass : 

(a) Christ hears and fulfils the will of the heavenly Father: Domi- 
nus aperuit mihi aurem, ego autem non contradico, retrorsum non 
abii. This spoken by Isaias in the Epistle (Isa., c. 50) may be, in 
the fullest sense, applied to Christ. The first thought of the Mes- 
sias was: to do the will of the Father. Ingrediens mundum dicit: 
ecce venio, utfaciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam (p. 57). At the begin- 
ning of His public life He was dominated by the same thought: 
to do the will of the Father. To the Apostles He said at Jacob's 
well: Meus cibus est, ut faciam voluntatem ejus qui misit me. (John 
4: 34.) And during Passion-week the same sentiment: to comply 
with the will of the Father, animates Him: Dominus aperuit mihi 
aurem; ego autem non contradico. Non mea voluntas fiat sed tua. 

(/3) Christ delivers Himself voluntarily to suffering and derision, 
according to the same will of the Father: caput meum dedi percu- 
tientibus, et genas meas vellentibus et conspuentibus in me. (Epistle, 
Isa., c. 50.) ^ 

(y) Christ prays for a decisive victory of the same will of the 
Father, Who will liberate and glorify the Redeemer in the midst of 
His enemies. The whole office and the mass are penetrated with 
the thought of the thirty-fourth Psalm: Judica nocentes me, im- 
pugna impugnantes me. The thirty-fourth Psalm is a loud cry 
and an outcry against the spiteful enemies, especially a Messianic 
cry and call certain of victory against the enemies of Christ and 
of His Kingdom for victory, for the work of redemption. The 

1 The event itself took place either on Friday before Holy-Week, on the eighth of 
Nisan, about four o'clock in the afternoon (Belser, 1. c. p. 23), therefore on the pre- 
ceding octave of Good Friday or on the day after the advent of Christ at Bethany, 
on Saturday. (See above, p. 340.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



enemies are in combat with Christ during His entire Passion. But 
God battles against all of them: judica nocentes me: impugna 
impugnantes me. (Introit.) Christ, the stronger, will conquer 
Satan, the strong, and all his imps. (See III Sunday of Lent, p. 
298.) Satan and the enemies of Christ form an armed host (see 
III Sunday of Lent). But the armor of God is more terrible and 
stronger. Si autem fortior eo superveniens viceret eum, universa 
arma ejus auferet, in quibus confidebat. (Compare III Sunday of 
Lent, p. 298.) Therefore the Messias appeals to the Father: 
apprehende arma et scutum et exurge in adjutorium mihi, Domine, 
virtus salutis meae. The Saviour is beaten, scourged, spit upon, 
struck in the face, nevertheless, He is interiorly engaged with the 
Father. He listens to every word of the Father. He takes up 
every burden, even the hardest which the will of the Father imposes 
upon Him. But He appeals incessantly and without any inter- 
mission to the Father: Arise, take the armor of divine justice, to 
which I am rendering satisfaction, and conquer the enemies of 
salvation. Psalm 34 furnishes the preacher an occasion, in the 
description of the way of the Passion, f.i., at the scourging, to look 
into the interior of the heart of Jesus. What is more glorious than 
the prayer of Jesus to do the will of the Father Who has cast Him 
down and permits Him to sink into contempt and misery, and still, 
to lead all to a glorious victory and to salvation? (Compare also 
the deep meaning of the texts of the offertory, of Psalm 142, and 
of the communio, of Ps. 34.) Precisely for this reason we are treat- 
ing the liturgy of this Monday somewhat more minutely, in order to 
induce the preachers, guided by secure biblical and liturgical directions, 
to look into the interior of the suffering Christ, Thus the devotion 
of the Passion will become a fruitful source of the devotion of the 
Sacred Heart of Jesus. (Compare Walter, Psallite Sapienter, Ps. 
34, Lohmann, Betrachtungen uber das Leiden Christi: Friday 
after Ash Wednesday to the Friday of the first week of Lent, on the 
history of Mt. Olive, pp. 21-63. See also below: Feast of the 
Sacred Heart.) 1 

(8) Christ obtains indeed a victory in the final will of the Father. 
The Epistle, rejoicing in the victory, gleefully announces this. 
According to the will of His Father Christ left Himself in the hands 
of His torturers. But presently the Messianic prayer proceeds: 

1 For a more extensive development of these thoughts see: Schweitz. Kirchen- 
zeitung, 1904, n. 13: Karwochenbilder, S. 113-115. 



348 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Juxta me est, qui justificat me, quis contradicet mihi? The divinity 
itself dwells in Jesus. His enemies fall to the ground on Mt. Olive 
when He permits but one ray of this divinity to shine forth. Then, 
however, He delivered Himself into their hands. They take Him 
prisoner, condemn Him, annihilate Him. But within Himself He 
enters into a Messianic dialogue with the Father: Stemus simul: 
Quis est adversarius meus? accedat ad me: ecce Dominus auxiliator 
meus: quis est qui condemnat me? Ecce omnes quasi vestimentum 
conterentur, tinea comedet eos. We listen here, in the liturgy, to 
one of its grandest and most significant characters, where, in the 
midst of the most inexpressible Passion, it presents the latent pathos 
of the victory of Easter, half-surpressed and still always again 
breaking forth in a clear manner. At communion of the mass, 
wherein the Saviour approaches His own and unites Himself with 
them, the distant thunder of the Easter judgment and victory over 
Satan and his accomplices becomes more audible: erubescant et 
revereantur simul, qui maligna loquuntur adversus me. (Ps. 34.) 
All this is literally fulfilled at the death of Christ. Similar Easter- 
ideas, not yet rejoicing over the victory, but certain of victory, 
loom from the chants of the Passion of the office: Pange lingua 
gloriosi lauream certaminis, etc. On the road to disgrace the 
Easter- Angel wreaths already the laurel of victory. (In a simply 
ovemhelming manner these hidden ideas of victory announce 
themselves in the matins of the tenebrae of Holy Saturday, on 
the evening of Good Friday.) 

We beg the homilists to follow such ideas of the office of Holy 
Week in their studies and meditations. An entire new world of 
thought on the Passion is herein disclosed, which may be most 
profitably utilized in sermons on the Passion of Christ. (See above, 
sermons on the Passion, pp. 323-329; compare Schweitz. Kirchen- 
zeit., 1904, Nr. 13, pp. 113, 115.) 

II. The interior sentiments of Christians at the celebration of the 
Passion of Christ. The Church presents these real sentiments of 
Christians through the example of Mary of Bethany, who anoints 
the Lord, in advance, for His burial. We will here consider her 
example and our imitation. 

A. Mary's example. As we have already remarked, the deter- 
mination of the time: ante sex dies Paschae may possibly have 
determined the selection of the Gospel of this day. This Monday 
is the sixth day before our Easter. For the time of the life of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Christ, we must, of course, institute the calculation of these six 
days differently. The Pascha, before which the six days are set, 
began with the killing and the eating of the paschal lamb, i.e., 
with the entry of the fourteenth of Nisan. If we count backwards 
we will obtain, as the time of the advent of Jesus in Bethany, the 
afternoon of the eighth of Nisan. By taking as a basis of the other 
exegetically attainable fact, that the Pascha and the celebration of 
the Last Supper of Christ took place on a Thursday, we may 
determine the advent of Jesus in Bethany for the preceding Fri- 
day. Thus the Supper itself would be determined on Friday even- 
ing or on the Sabbath. The entry into Jerusalem designated on the 
day after the Supper would then fall upon Saturday evening or on 
the first day of the week, on Sunday (p. 346). The Supper which, 
according to St. John, c. 12: 1 sqq., was prepared for the Lord in 
the company of the sisters and their brother — Mary, Martha, and 
Lazarus — is identical with that given according to Matt. 26: 6 sqq., 
and Mark 14: 3 sqq., at Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper. 
The house of " Simon the Leper" is probably the house of Martha 
and Mary itself. Grimm considers Simon the Leper the deceased 
father of these two sisters and of their brother, who now are living 
together. It would seem, according to the presentation of the 
gospels in which Lazarus is mentioned after the sisters, as if he 
were the younger, and probably not fully and legally of age, and 
therefore not the real master of the house. Therefore, most prob- 
ably, the house still bore the name of the father. Simon, no doubt, 
had been a victim of leprosy for some time, and probably died of 
this disease, or was cured thereof by Jesus. The synoptic writers 
do not at all place the Last Supper two days before Easter, as 
would appear from a superficial consideration. They rather look 
to the past from this account, recapitulando, as St. Augustin already 
remarked, in order to find a motive for the betrayal. If Matthew 
and Mark designate, in a surprising manner, the house of Bethany 
only indefinitely and as one just entered for the first time, we 
should remember that we make an earlier acquaintance with this 
house and its inhabitants only through the Gospels of St. John and 
St. Luke. 1 The liturgy places a great value upon the subject- 

l Mary is most probably the converted sinner whose name is not mentioned, 
who had once before, and much earlier, anointed the Lord (Luke 7, 37 sqq.), most 
probably also the Mary Magdalen, mentioned by Luke 8, 2, and, therefore, also 
the Mary Magdalen of the History of the Passion and Resurrection. The reasons 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



matter of the events at Bethany. Three times it announces the 
same deed of Mary: in the Passion of Palm Sunday, in the Gospel 
of Monday, and on Tuesday the history of the Passion begins again 
with the announcement of the anointing by Mary (according to 
Mark, c. 12). It is only omitted in the Passion on Good Friday, 
because the respective passage of St. John had already been read 
on Monday. This the Church has learned from Jesus Himself. 
He solemnly praises and explains the deed of Mary: She had 
anointed, in advance, His body for burial. The words of the 
Redeemer seem to indicate that Mary fully comprehended the 
Passion of the Saviour and its significance, with a complete con- 
sciousness of faith. She divines the threatening catastrophe: she 
beholds Him descending into the grave and rising again therefrom. 
She may not look for another opportunity to honor Him; "and only 
that His sacred body be not as if forgotten and sink into the grave 
without the honor wherewith love ornaments its dead — this is the 
burden of the great solicitude of her heart." "His burial begins 
already now, as it were, in the imminent Passion, and though He 
is still alive. Thus she anoints Him who is both living and dead." 1 
The solemn action is therefore performed in a corresponding manner. 
She pours precious ointment over His head and feet, in measure 
far exceeding that which was customary in such acts of honor in 
the East. She breaks the precious vase of alabaster into fragments 
— a unique, beautiful, and deeply significant image of homage, of 
adoration, and of love which lays at the feet of the Most High the 
best and the most precious that she has, as a sacrifice, broken as 
it were into fragments. With the sweet odor of the ointment, 
which fills the whole house, the sweet odor of such real recognition 

of the identity are: The strong occidental well-defined tradition, also especially 
John, 11:2, where the aorist rj a\€L<f)a(ra, of this Evangelist, who often, in this 
manner, points back and supplies almost necessarily and in a highly tactful 
manner to a previous anointing. But this can only be the one known to the 
readers from Luke 7: 36 sqq. A final reason is the unanimous psychology of all 
these mentioned scenes. 

1 On Good Friday Mary Magdalen had indeed no longer an opportunity to anoint 
the Lord, in the full sense of the word; she wished to supply this with the rest of the 
women on Easter morn, but she met Him who was then risen. But Him who suffered 
she had already anointed on this occasion. She had, therefore, really preserved 
her precious nard, as it were, for the day of the burial of Jesus, and she now uses it. 
And Jesus Himself accepts it as a solemn embalming in a service of love for His 
burial. (John 12: 7; "Let her alone, that she may keep it against the day of my 
burial.") (repecre.) This was, besides, just on the octave preceding Good Friday 
(p. 376 note). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



of the majesty and the glory of the Son of God and of her own 
nothingness, broken as it were into fragments, rises up to the 
Messiah, Who directs His last steps toward the great work of the 
sacrifice of redemption. (See pp. 233, 235.) She anoints the eter- 
nally Living, at whose feet she once sat, listening in rapt attention, 
Who recalled her brother to life from the citadel of death, from 
whose lips she drank in the words : I am the Resurrection and the 
Life. She anoints the dead, Who proceeds to His Passion and the 
grave, whose bloody sacrifice is inevitable and indispensable, but 
Who, nevertheless, remains victor over death and corruption. 
Never was the appreciation of the Son of God and of Man more 
profoundly expressed than here. No more beautiful return of a 
sacrifice did the Redeemer, proceeding onward to His death, find 
than this glorious inner and outer deed of adoration, of veneration, 
and of love of a creature, annihilating herself before the Son of Man. 
Now we understand the defense made by Jesus of the woman 
attacked for her deed: "Why trouble you this woman? For she 
hath wrought a good work upon me. For she, in pouring this 
ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial. Amen, I say 
to you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole 
world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory 
of her." (Matt. 26: 10 sqq.) These grand and solemn words of 
the Lord testify to the deep appreciation with which Mary per- 
formed her work. And the threefold announcement of her deed in 
Holy Week is also a fulfilment of the prophecy of the Lord. W ould 
that the preachers paid greater attention to this event! 

B. Our imitation. The touching scene of the anointing by 
Mary in Bethany, which the Lord desires to be announced through- 
out the whole world, is a true school for our sentiments at the 
celebration of the Passion of Christ: 

(a) Adoration of the suffering God-Man, Who goes forth to suffer. 
We know it: He is the Son of God, and, as the Son of God, He 
can redeem us indeed. To the Son of God our marveling and 
revering adoration is due. Mary pours that which is most precious 
over the head and the feet of the Lord. She also breaks a most 
valuable alabaster vase and devotes its last contents to the Re- 
deemer. It should never again be devoted to any other purpose 
after having served the Most High. In the deed of Mary a uniquely 
deep significant type of exinanitio is contained, of the inner and 
outer destructio, in the act of adoration and of sacrifice. We, too, 



352 HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



should break the best we possess, the alabaster of our souls, and 
lay it at the feet of our Saviour. Before Him, the Son of God, 
we are mere fragments. And for us He meets death. If we 
recognize, by annihilating ourselves, our own insignificance and 
dependence and His immeasurable highness and majesty, then the 
contents of our soul, the precious acts of adoration and of sacrifice 
will be poured over the feet of Jesus: agnitio divinae celsitudinis 
propriaeque omnimodae dependentiae. (See our reflections on the 
gift of adoration and incense of the Magi, above p. 233 sqq. Com- 
pare also the Ecce lignum cruris of Good Friday and the prostratio 
at the beginning of the liturgy of Good Friday.) 

(b) Love and contrition before the God-Man, going forth to meet 
His suffering. The pouring of the ointment, rich and precious 
beyond a precedence, the sacred odor which filled the entire house, 
and the breaking of the vase of alabaster, these are likewise a most 
striking image of perfect love and contrition. Love is the most 
precious gift that we can possibly offer to the Lord. And if, in 
perfect love, to which the Saviour, Who goes forth to His suffering, 
incites us, if we break the vase of our soul, made, as it were, by the 
hand of God, in deep contrition, and pour the precious ointment of 
atoning love and of genuine and true resolutions over His head, 
then we also have performed that good work in behalf of our Blessed 
Saviour which He praises in Mary. (See above, sermons on con- 
fession, p. 308, and sermons on the Passion, p. 323, especially p. 
364.) The preacher may possibly intersperse some of the remi- 
niscences of that sinner who had anointed the feet of the Saviour 
and bathed them with her own tears (Luke, c. 7), 1 and who, in all 
probability, is Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalen. 2 If we fol- 
low the Saviour in sentiments of perfect love and contrition through- 
out Holy Week, then much will also be forgiven to us, because we, 
too, shall have loved much. Then we, too, will have done the good 
deed of Mary, we shall have anointed the body of the Lord under- 
standingly, in advance of the burial, inasmuch as we have first 
buried with Christ the old man of sin, in order to stand in the 
newness of life at His grave and celebrate Easter with Him. (See 
p. 162 sqq.) 

The deed of Mary might be also interpreted as a type : 

1 See the Gospel and the mass of the Thursday of Passion-week. 

2 See Grimm-Zahn, Leben Jesu, VII. B. p. 343 sqq. Note 2, also below, History 
of Easter, and above p. 349, note. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(c) Of compassion. 

(d) Of admiration. 

(e) Of willingness to enter into the sentiments of Christ and to 
carry our own cross. (Compare also Lohmann, Betracht. iiber das 
Leiden Christi: Einleitung, p. i sqq., also De Ponte, etc.) 

The entire Monday is a school of the Sacred Heart of Jesus — 
an introduction into the sentiments of Jesus: Since Christ in His 
flesh has suffered for you, therefore, arm yourself with the same 
sentiments. (I Pet. 4:1.) 

§ 37. Tuesday of Holy Week 

The Fruits of the Tree of the Cross: Gloria, salus, vita et 
resurrectio nostra 

The theme of this Tuesday may be expressed by the following 
words : nos autem gloriari oportet in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi: 
in quo est salus, vita et resurrectio nostra. (Gal., c. 6.) These are 
the fruits of the Passion for Christians. Let us consider the fruits 
of the cross in the spirit of the Introit of this day: 

(a) Gloria nostra. Our glory. It redounds to the indescribable 
glory of our human nature and of every human soul that the God- 
Man suffered immeasurably for us from the last counsel of the 
high priests and the Scribes to the closing of the grave in the gar- 
den of Joseph of Arimathea. In order to show this the preacher 
should select several very vivid scenes from the Passion by Mark 
(c. 14 and 15) of this day, and ever emphasize therein the immeas- 
urable glory which is contained in such acts of Christ for the souls 
of men. If we are honored through Christ by such bloody ser- 
vices, it would be an unpardonable disgrace for us and a criminal 
baseness to be ashamed of the cross of Christ. The return of a 
sacrifice imposed upon us by every returning Friday, every day 
of fast, of confession, and every day of a real Christian life, is 
simply an honor for us. We ought to thank God, upon our knees, 
that we are permitted to make such sacrifices and that He con- 
descends to receive them from us. The several scenes of the 
Passion by Mark might be strengthened by thoughts taken from 
the Epistle: f.i., Ego quasi agnus consuetus, qui portatur ad vie- 
timam: explained by Mark 15:1-25. Christ is led as a patient 
lamb: (a) to Pilate (v. 1-20); (b) from Pilate to Calvary (v. 20-25). 

(b) Salus nostra: Our salvation. The dogmatic idea of the 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



opening of heaven through the cross is hereby meant. The Way 
of the Cross is a passage of victory for Christ into the portals of 
heaven, which are opened to the Saviour and His own: Pontifex 
introivit in sancta, aeterna redemptione inventa. (Compare the 
thoughts on Passion Sunday, pp. 295 and 298, sermons on the Pas- 
sion, p. 322 sqq., also: End of the Palm-procession, p. 343, espe- 
cially p. 773 (y), and the explanation of Easter and the Ascension 
of Christ.) The cross of Christ is according to the Apostle: 

(c) Vita nostra: Our life. Through the Passion of Christ we 
gain our second, our supernatural life. The cross is the tree of life : 

" Nulla silva talem profert, 
Fronde, flore, get -miner (hymn). 

Fulget crucis mysterium, qua vita mortem pertulit et morte vitam 
protulit. Here Christ gives us the living water of grace to drink, 
of which He said to each one drinking: qui autem biberit ex aqua, 
quam ego dabo ei, non sitiet in aeternum. Et aqua, quam ego dabo 
ei, fiet in eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam. (Compare 
above, Palm Sunday, pp. 296, 299 n. 4; pp. 282, 290, 291; also pp. 
87, 161, 774.) The Passion again recounts the touching circum- 
stances wherein the dying Redeemer becomes our life. He brings 
us eternal life upon earth that the cross may become our salvation 
in heaven. 

id) Resurrectio nostra: Our resurrection. The cross becomes 
our moral resurrection from error and sin. The grace of the sacri- 
fice of the cross, applied to us through the sacraments, destroys 
sin. The old man remains nailed to the cross. We appear with 
new resolutions. The immense sacrifices of Christ are capable of 
arousing us to deeds and to sacrifices (see p. 162). The preacher 
should here enter into the particulars of the renewal of character. 
(See the Epistle of the I. Sunday of Advent, of the Sunday Sep- 
tuagesima, and of the I. Sunday of Lent, in the light of these 
thoughts on the Passion.) The cross which necessarily leads to 
the resurrection of Christ, is also the pledge of our own resurrection. 
If we divest ourselves, with Christ, once and forever of the old 
man, and walk in the newness of life, then Christ will awaken us 
to a glorious transfiguration. The glory of the Father, His divinity, 
will likewise make us glorious in body and in soul. Grace implanted 
within us will also necessarily lead us to a real resurrection. 

The suffering of Christ and of Christians presses onward toward 
Easter, to an eternal feast of Easter in heaven. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Also the minutely described Passion of the day, according to 
Mark, is a passage to the resurrection of Christ and to our own. 

§ 38. The Wednesday of Holy Week 

The Power of the Tree of the Cross: The vicarious Satisfaction of 

Christ: pro nobis 

While Monday dug up the roots of the cross, i.e., disclosed the 
hidden sentiments of Christ, and purified and glorified our own 
sentiments, and while Tuesday displayed the fruits of the tree 
of the cross and invited us to pluck them and to co-operate — 
Wednesday rather unfolds the inmost power of the passion of 
Christ: the vicarious satisfaction of Christ obedient unto death. 
In the Epistle (Isa., c. 62 and 63) we behold: 

1. The Judge of the world, clad in bloody garments. He ought 
pronounce a terrible and well-deserved criminal judgment upon 
man, but He executes it upon Himself. He pronounces judgment 
against all nations: conculcavi populos in furore meo et inebriavi 
eos in indignatione mea — but in such a manner as if all the mis- 
deeds of the nations were loaded upon Himself: miser ationum 
Domini recordabor. He alone makes the bloody atonement: ego 
propugnator sum ad salvandum. In the typical passages and in 
the sensus accommodatus the Church shows us the Saviour as the 
Winepresser in bloody garments. Sin, frightful sin, cries for revenge. 
It must be atoned and atoned in a bloody manner. And he who 
does not atone for it in and through Christ will fall into His hands 
as the frightful Judge. Now Christ appears covered with blood 
and terrible through love. Then He will arise blood-stained and 
terrible in judgment. This train of thoughts is well calculated to 
show the whole Passion and every scene thereof in its complete 
seriousness: tantus labor non sit cassus! In a seriousness, tainted 
with blood, the admonition of the I. Sunday of Lent is here repeated: 
exortamur vos ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis. (See the Gos- 
pels of the Passion-week and especially the ferial Gospels with 
their sharp condemnation of infidelity and of self -righteousness.) 
The suffering Christ is truly a blood-stained judge. He passes 
judgment upon sin, and loads Himself with its punishment. There- 
fore we behold Him as: 

2. The Redeemer of the world in a bloody garment and described 
by the Evangelist of the Old (Isaias, c. 53) and the Evangelist of 



356 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the New (Luke) . Testament. The second lesson of the mass de- 
scribes the suffering, vanquished, and annihilated servant of God, 
who loses and gains all. The Passion by Luke brings within the 
grand panorama of the second lesson of Isaias, c. 53, the various 
vivid and striking scenes: 

(a) The servant of God suffers disgrace and sorrow (c. 53: 1-3, 
and the second Epistle). He is: 

(a) A tender plant coming forth from a thirsty ground: vir- 
gultum, radix de terra sitienti. (See the scene of Mt. Olive, in the 
Passion of St. Luke.) 

(/3) The most abject of men: vidimus eum despectum et novis- 
simum virorum. (See the flight of the disciples, the betrayal of 
Judas, the denial of Peter, Barabbas). 

(y) The man of sorrows — acquainted with infirmity: virum 
dolorum scientem infirmitatem (the Way of the Cross and the 
crucifixion). 

(b) The servant of God bears disgrace and sorrow for us. He 
renders vicarious satisfaction. 

(a) Pro nobis, the terrible disgrace and the horrid pains are 
really — for us: Vere languor es nostros ipse tulit, dolor es ipse por- 
tavit. The Jews and the world regard Him as a leper and as one 
struck by God and afflicted: et nos putavimus eum quasi leprosum 
et percussum a Deo et humiliatum. But this common opinion of 
the people fell short of the real truth. Over and over again, but 
always more vehemently and mightily, does the prophet emphasize 
this: compare c. 53:4, 5: Ipse vulneratus est propter iniquitates 
nostras . . . disciplina pads nostrae super eum. The chastisement 
of our peace was upon Him, He was bruised for our sins; Hebr. — 
castigatio pads nostrae super eum et tumoribus, livoribus ejus sanatio 
nobis, sanatum est nobis. The preacher should emphasize the 
Pro nobis — and apply it in quick concentration to several scenes 
of the Passion. Very touchingly does the echo of these prophetic 
words raise a wail through the popular prayer of the sorrowful 
mysteries of the rosary: He Who has suffered a bloody sweat for 
us, He Who was scourged for us. (See Hatlers Kreutzweg.) 

(/J) Pro nobis ovibus errantibus, c. 53 : 6. The prophet reminds 
us touchingly of the disgrace and the suffering borne for our aber- 
rations: omnes nos quasi oves erravimus, unusquisque in viam suam 
declinavit: et posuit Dominus in eo iniquitatem omnium nostrum 
The hard Way of the Cross, upon which He obtains for us eternal 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



salvation, effects an atonement for the sins of the levity and the 
malice of the erring sheep. 

(c) The servant of God bears disgrace and sorrow to the end, unto 
death. (Isa. 53: 7-9; compare the Introit: obediens usque ad mor- 
tem, mortem autem cruets, Phil., c. 2.) The prophet describes this 
by a dark picture — the Evangelist in the full and terrible truth 
of reality : Jesus' last words, His death and burial. All is silenced 
in admiring adoration and love, and the priests are chanting 
the Passion or engaged in adoration: et haec dicens expiravit (hie 
genuflectitur et pausatur aliquantulum. Compare the ceremony of 
the prostratio at the beginning of the service on Good Friday). 

id) The servant of God is mysteriously and honorably buried. 
Mysteriously flaring up and again disappearing thoughts of Easter 
beckon from a distance and strengthen us, still they fail to capti- 
vate us completely. They are, as it were, Easter rays which play 
around the closed grave of Christ, budding Easter-flowers not yet 
opened. (Compare with this the end of the Passion, by Luke, 
and our remarks on Holy Saturday, p. 385.) The picture of the 
Passion unfolded under II, according to Isaias, when connected 
with the Passion by Luke, and illustrated by several concrete 
sketches therefrom, affords rich and practical material for cycles 
of Lenten sermons, f.i., 1. The servant of God (compare Knaben- 
bauer, commentarius in Isaiam Prophetam, I, pp. 325, appendix ad, 
p. 287 to chap. 52: 13-15). 2. The servant of God loaded with dis- 
grace and sorrow (c. 53:1-3, Knabenbauer, p. 295 sqq.). 3. The 
servant of God representing us and atoning for us (c. 53 : 4-6, Knaben- 
bauer, p. 300 sqq.). 4. (5, 6.) The servant of God suffers, dies, and 
is buried (c. 53: 7-9, p. 306 sqq.). (ev. 7.) The servant of God is 
gloriously rewarded (c. 53: 10-12, p. 319). For the whole course 
consult J. Knabenbauer, S.J., Commentarius, c. 53, pp. 285-338, or 
J. Knabenbauer (German, Isaiaskommentar, z. St.; see above, 
p. 316). 

§ 39. The (Second) Triduum Sacrum 

A Solemn Celebration of the Passion of the Lord Jesus Christ 

1. The history of the Triduum. The Triduum sacrum belongs 
to the oldest constituent parts of the liturgy. 

But we rather prefer to treat of the history of the Triduum 
when speaking of the several days. 

2. The celebration of the fulfilled sacrifice of the redemption during 



358 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



this Triduum. The Church now celebrates the accomplished 
bloody sacrifice of the redemption through the Passion and the 
death of the Saviour. In keeping herewith the sorrow of the 
liturgy, which had already begun with Septuagesima, rises to its 
highest degree. The preparatory prayers and the invocation of 
the office are omitted, the invitatorium is lacking, the gloria Patri 
is not recited, the hymns and the little chapters are left out, — the 
celebration of the death of Christ alone becomes prominent. Sorrow 
for the death of Christ and for sin, which caused it, dominates 
all. We wish here to emphasize, especially, the one celebration of 
sorrow which is proper to this Triduum. 

3. The celebration of the sorrow of the Triduum. Sorrow attains 
a touching expression on all these days, in the Matutinum tene- 
brarum, in matins. At a time when all vigils except that of Christ- 
mas had been abrogated, the nocturnal offices of these three days 
were still retained. Only during the latter part of the Middle 
Ages the custom obtained, and finally the law, to recite the noc- 
turnal office, at times, on the evening before. This transfer was 
made not merely on account of the more frequent night services, 
but also for a promotion of the participation of the people. The 
peculiarity of these matins is closely connected with the celebra- 
tion of the days itself. We shall here merely consider that which 
is common to all. 

(a) The chants and the orations of the lamentations of the Prophet 
Jeremiah. The Prophet, lamenting over the destruction of the 
city of Jerusalem, becomes a type of Christ. Ecclesia has ipsas 
hebraici alphabeti literas et threnos usurpat et voce lugubri decantat, 
ut fidelibus representet, quod symbolice in hisce threnis exprimere et 
graphice depingere videtur Jeremias, Christum nempe in cruce gemen- 
tem, loquentem, lamentantem, omnesque ad compassionem moveat et 
ad poenitentiam vitaeque emendationem excitet efficaciter et impellat. 
Exemplo Christi lectiones concluduntur cum exhortatione: Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum ad Judaeorum duri- 
tiam ostendendam et nostram conversionem excitandam. Fornici, 
Instit. liturg., p. 268. The lamentations recall: 

(a) The destruction of the temple of Jerusalem and the exile of 
the people of God at the time of Jeremiah — on account of its sins. 

(f3) The final destruction of Jerusalem and the banishment of 
the people of God into all parts of the world, on account of its 
infidelity in the days of Christ. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 359 

(y) The destruction of the temple of the body of Christ in 
His death — on account of the sins of men. 

(8) The destruction, the curse, and the punishments of the 
nations and kingdoms, which have separated themselves from the 
Redeemer and the Church. (Compare the Orient.) 

(e) The eternal damnation of those in whom the blood of Christ 
is eternally lost — through their own guilt. 

All these thoughts which permeate the lamentations and the 
orations of Jeremiah, in the present sensus mysticus and accommo- 
datus — become so many exhortations for conversion to every soul, 
to all men and all nations: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, convertere ad 
Dominum Deum tuum. 

(b) The symbolism of the triangle. The triangular candlestick 
placed at the side or in the front of the High Altar, with its fifteen 
candles, illuminated once upon a time the night during the time 
of the matins, but no doubt, soon attained the present undoubted 
symbolical significance. With each psalm a candle is extinguished, 
with the exception of the one that is placed on the top of the candle- 
stick. During the Benedictus, beginning with the verse, Ut sine 
timore, the six candles on the altar are also extinguished, the last 
one with the last verse, then the balance of the lights. 

It becomes constantly darker and more dismal. The light of 
Christ burns solitarily and alone. It would seem as if the fire 
which He brought upon earth and which He wills that it burn, 
will become entirely extinguished. Christ now speaks to His 
enemies: Haec est hora vestra et potestas tenebrarum. (Luke 22: 53.) 
The lights of the Apostles, who were to become the light of the 
world, flicker away or become totally extinguished: The Saviour 
discovers in His own fear, flight, betrayal, and denial. The word 
of the Prophet is fulfilled: Strike the Shepherd and the sheep shall 
be dispersed. The living stones of His kingdom, which He con- 
structed so gloriously, fall over each other like the ruins of Jeru- 
salem. Solitarily and alone the light of Christ and His love illumine. 

During the last antiphon of the Benedictus the topmost candle 
of the triangle, the symbol of Christ, is not extinguished but carried 
away and hidden. The oration is said. But the solemn doxology 
of the Trinity at the end is silently recited. The divinity conceals 
itself in the cloud of suffering. A noise arises, something unusual 
in the quiet of the churches: the enemies of Christ become enraged: 
Crucify Him, crucify Him! This is their hour. Creation trembles. 



360 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The sun of the divinity of Christ sets, in the darkness of disgrace 
and of the death of Christ. But the light of Christ is not extin- 
guished. The light and the love of His divinity burn in the midst 
of suffering, and therefore this terrible suffering becomes the work 
of the accomplished redemption. Therefore, the hidden burning 
candle is once more brought back to our view, before the end of 
the service. This is, as it were, a prophecy of the imminent resur- 
rection, which the new light and the new love effect. As Christ 
adds to all the harassing prophecies of His Passion the words 
scarcely caught by the Apostles: et tertia die resurget; so, too, do 
the doleful matins send us, at their close, a faint Easter ray of 
hope. But it cannot banish sorrow. The rubric remarks signifi- 
cantly: et omnes surgunt et cum silentio discedunt. (Compare 
Benedict XIV, de festis D. N. J. C, n. 122 sqq., p. 51 sqq. Com- 
pare Trid. Sess. XXII, c. 2. Mazzinelli, Off. hebd. majoris, p. 85. 
Durandus Rationale, L. VI, c. 71 sqq. Amberger, Pastoral theo- 
logie, III. B. Buch III, Abschnitt, Kirchenjahr, p. 782.) 

To the homilist the deeply significant ceremonies ought to be- 
come a setting for various and most serious thoughts. How many 
Catholic countries have been extinguished for the Church of 
Christ and for Christ within the course of centuries, like candles on 
the candlestick, and the Church might very appropriately intone 
the lamentations of Jeremiah over them! 

How many glorious talents, in fact, how many immortal souls 
are extinguished for Christ after having received in baptism and 
in many other sacraments the burning candle of faith and of 
grace ! 

Might not this picture of the gradually extinguished candlestick 
loom up before the soul of many pastors, when viewing the crowds 
of their first communicants and induce them to ask themselves: 
What will all these be after five, ten, twenty years? Burning lights? 
Or — as the letter of Judas Thadaeus so forcibly expresses it: 
sidera errantia, quibus procella tenebrarum servata est in aeternum 
— or, what must finally lead to this frightful fate : nubes sine aqua, 
a ventis circumferuntur; arbores autumnales infructuosae, bis mor- 
tuae, eradicatae, fluctus feri maris despumantes suas confusiones: 
sidera errantia, quibus procella tenebrarum servata est in aeternum. 
(Ep. Jud. V: 12, 13; see also the proposed themes for Low Sunday.) 

The remaining and again appearing light of Christ and the 
Holy Ghost, who preserves it unto the end of the world, raise us 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 361 



again from pessimism and urge us on mightily and irresistibly to 
works of zeal for souls. 0, how much is placed into our hands! 

And how many a flickering wick, aye, how many an extinguished 
light did not the new light and the new Easter fire of grace rekindle : 
Lumen Christi! Deo gr atlas. (See also pp. 128, 399, 400.) 

§ 40. Coena Domini: Holy Thursday 
The Love of Christ to the End and the Unbloody Sacrifice 

" in finem dilexit eos " 

I. Historical Remarks 

1. The origin of the Triduum and of Holy Thursday. Our 
Blessed Redeemer celebrated the Last Supper, the center of the 
holy celebration, exactly according to the Law on the evening of 
the fourteenth of Nisan, on a Thursday. (On the solution of the 
difficulty of John 18: 28, see Grimm-Zahn, Leben Jesu, VI, B. p. 
100 sqq., also Belser, Geschichte des Leidens Jesu, p. 136 sqq., 
see above: Monday of Holy-week.) 

It was most proper that the Church should distinguish by a 
special solemnity, the day on which the Lord celebrated the Paschal 
Supper and instituted the mystery of His Passion and Blood in 
order to remain with us. Moreover, upon this day a great pro- 
fusion of the most exalted mysteries of love are crowded together 
(Cum dilexisset suos, in finem dilexit illos, John, c. 13: 1 sqq., c. 
13-19): the washing of the feet, the parting address, the prayer 
of the high-priest, the agony in the garden of Olives, the betrayal 
by Judas, the arrest of Jesus, the first difficult and immediate 
march of the Saviour to His Passion. The celebration of the 
memorial and renovation of the sacrament of the altar, and there- 
with a celebration of the memorial and unbloody renovation of 
His Passion, Jesus had expressly commanded at the Last Supper 
and had at least recommended an imitation of the washing of 
the feet. What could be more proper than to carry out these 
commands and wishes of Christ, especially on the day of their 
anniversary, in a faithful and solemn manner? And thus Holy 
Thursday is indeed one of those feasts which have instituted them- 
selves (p. 171). 

2. The account given by Silvia Peregrina of Holy Thursday. 
The pilgrim of Bordeaux describes Holy Thursday of the year 385 



362 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



in the following characteristic lines. She distinguishes a threefold 
service, consisting of an already developed psalmody, which began 
at the first cock-crow (Matutinum tenebrarum.) The Last Supper 
and the sacrament of the altar were celebrated at an afternoon 
service. Mass began in the Martyrium on Golgotha about four 
o'clock (hora decinia); all the people received holy communion. 
Then followed a grand evening and a night service, which began 
the celebration of the night in the Garden of Olives and the begin- 
ning of the Passion on the very spot, and lasted unto Good Friday. 
At seven o'clock they assembled for prayer and the lessons in the 
church of Eleona on Mt. Olive. At eleven they proceeded to the 
top of Mt. Olive, same as before, in praying and chanting. There 
they remained until the first cock-crow. After this they marched 
into the beautiful church of the Garden of Gethsemane, which was 
illuminated by two hundred lamps. After prayer and chants the 
Gospel of the captivity of Jesus was read, and then they proceeded 
slowly down into the city to the place of crucifixion, where, after 
the reading of the Gospel of the trial of Christ, the bishop delivered 
an address and invited the people to the veneration of the cross 
at seven o'clock. 1 

3. Other accounts of Holy Thursday. There are other accounts 
of the fourth century concerning this celebration, wherein it appears 
as a constant practise. St. Chrysostom delivered on this day a 
homily on the institution of the holy Eucharist and the betrayal by 
Judas. St. Augustine, in his fifty-fourth Epistle ad Januarium f 
c. 4, clears up several doubts on the celebration of this feast, and 
admonishes the Bishop Januarius to follow the custom of his dio- 
cese. Through most ancient developments and departures and 
quarrels connected therewith, we are enabled to pursue the follow- 
ing fundamental thoughts which frequently point toward Jerusalem 
as to their origin: 

(a) It was desired to institute several services on this day in 
reference to the manifold mysteries of the day. 

(b) A pressure was brought to bear to celebrate the Lord's 
Supper on the evening itself or in the afternoon. We refer here 
to the four o'clock mass in the Martyrium at Jerusalem. Aye, 
even in Rome we find, at the time when the Gelasianum was in 
vogue, a missa ad vesperum designated for Holy Thursday in addi- 
tion to the forenoon mass. In many churches even three or four 

1 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 43. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 363 



masses became customary; one for the reception of the penitents 
(compare the present oration), one for the blessing of the oils (with 
gloria), one as a memorial celebration of the institution of the 
holy Eucharist (compare the Epistle), one for the washing of the 
feet, or for the examination of the candidates for baptism (compare 
the Gospel of the present mass). 

(c) The ceremonies of the blessing of the oils are also very 
ancient, of which especially the earlier liturgies of the middle ages 
speak rather extensively. Even St. Cyprian speaks of an oleum 
in altari sanctificatum (Ep. 70, c. 2), but does not tell us on what 
day this oil was blessed. In like manner, the washing of the feet, 
the washing of the altar still in vogue in St. Peter's, the repositio 
hosliae pro missa praesanctificatorum, which, however, received 
only later its present solemnity, are traceable far back into antiquity. 
The reconciliation of public sinners to God and to the Church on 
Holy Thursday was also of great importance. In connection with 
this and in close relation with the thought of the one banquet of 
love — unus panis — unum corpus ecclesiae — was the solemn 
announcement of the anathema of heretics, who voluntarily sep- 
arated themselves from the unity of faith and of charity, which 
was later adopted. Traces hereof are found as early as the fourth 
century. From a collection of these anathemas originated the 
bulla: In coena Domini. In reference to its genesis, history, and 
abolition, see the respective article in Kirchen-Lexikon (II. Ed. 
II. 1474). The celebration of the holy Eucharist, of Christ's contin- 
ued presence, — Who loved us to the end, remained always the central 
celebration. But the joy over this infinite mystery did not pene- 
trate completely, on account of the dreadful catastrophe of the 
Passion, which began simultaneously on this high feast. Yet it 
gave it here and there a stamp of a holy day, and not infrequently 
was the fast interrupted on this day. 

(d) The German name: Griindonnerstag — is derived either 
from the green herbs which, in imitation of the Jews, were eaten 
on this day, or from the green color of the mass-vestments which, 
during the middle ages (before the present development of the 
liturgical colors, only adopted since Innocent III), was largely 
chosen on this day, or from an earlier Introit: In loco pascuae 
— Ps. 22: 2: "he will lead me onto green pastures," or from the 
medieval dies viridium of penitents, who, through reconciliation, 
became again, on this day, green wood (Luke 23: 31), green twigs. 



364 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The very ancient name — Natalis calicis — is also very inter- 
esting. 

II. Liturgic Homiletic Remarks. — The Abandonment of Christ 

A Threefold Abandonment of Christ is Celebrated 

1. The abandonment of Christ in the washing of the feet. (Gospel 
ceremony of the washing of the feet.) Jesus was fully conscious 
of His divine and divinely human power and might: Sciens Jesus, 
quia omnia dedit ei Pater in manus, et quia a Deo exivit, et ad Deum 
vadit. (John 13:3.) After this solemn and grand introduction 
one would naturally expect a grand deed, an exalted miracle from 
Christ. But the Evangelist continues: Knowing that the Father 
had given Him all things into His hands, and that He came from 
God, and goeth to God: He riseth from Supper and layeth aside 
His garments, and having taken a towel, girded Himself. After 
that He putteth water into a basin and began to wash the feet of 
the disciples. (John 13: 3, 4.) There is possibly no more touching 
or impressive picture of the abandonment of the God-man for our 
salvation, for our souls, for our entire person than this washing of 
the feet in the evening of His life, in the completely exalted self- 
consciousness. The Father hath placed all things into my hands; 
I carry the world, all worlds, all spirits, and all souls in my hands, 
and I desire only to serve souls: non veni ministrari sed ministrare. 
(See John 13: 12-23; Matt. 20: 28.) The abandonment of Jesus 
during His whole life becomes through the washing of the feet 
palpable and manifest to the Apostles and to all of us, and is com- 
prised in one unique and incomparable event and picture. The 
preacher ought use the verses 1-2 1 of the thirteenth chapter of 
John, in order to impress upon his hearers the briefly indicated 
thoughts in an homiletic manner: The abandonment of Jesus in 
humility, self-annihilation, and love. 

To this abandonment of Jesus our own abandonment cor- 
responds: 

(a) In the genuine love of God. A real love of God manifests 
itself, during these days, above all, in sorrow caused by love — im- 
perfect contrition. The washing of the feet indicates it and the 
Saviour Himself explains it in this sense. (John 13:10.) The 
Gospel of the day (John 13: 3 sqq., the washing of the feet) and 
the ceremony of the washing of the feet on the part of the prelates 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 365 



of the Church, incite to purification from sin, even from the most 
trivial faults. We should, above all, be cleansed from all grievous 
sins. But this is not enough. He who ascended from the bath 
of baptism and of confession must soon again wash the dust from 
his feet, i.e., cleanse himself repeatedly from the venial sins which, 
like the dust of the road, clings to us: non indiget nisi ut pedes lavet, 
sed est mundus totus. (John 13: 10.) He who, after a bath, walks 
but a few steps on the sandy beach gathers sand on his feet, and, 
though clean, must wash his feet again. Thus it is likewise in 
the spiritual life. He who has been baptized, he who has confessed, 
he who has lived in a state of grace must wash his feet, must cleanse 
himself of venial sins. This is done precisely through perfect love 
and contrition. Thus the abandonment of Christ corresponds to 
an abandonment on the part of man. Perfect love and contrition 
should remove and wash away everything today whatsoever might 
offend or displease Jesus. The real sentiment of Holy Thursday 
is perfect love, sorrow which proceeds from love for all sins, even 
for the most trivial fault. We know that the dust of venial sins 
will again cling to the feet. But we should pursue all faults, even 
the smallest faults of character, and burn them in the fire of love 
and contrition. In a state of grace (qui lotus est) we should strive to 
wash away every speck of dust of venial sin from our souls (non 
indiget, nisi ut pedes lavet, sed est mundus totus). This sentiment 
and disposition is a true preparation for Holy Communion on this 
day of the institution of Holy Communion. Communion excludes 
also all attachment to venial sin. He who receives Holy Communion 
with an actual or virtual attachment to venial sin, or commits a 
venial sin in receiving Holy Communion, commits likewise a venial 
sin against the reverence due to the sacrament of the Eucharist. 
(Gopfert, Moral theologie, III. B., § 127, p. 88; Noldin, Summa 
Theo. Moral. Ill, de sacramentis, n. 141.) This is especially the 
case in all deliberate venial sins (of malice). Therefore the washing 
of the feet before communion, that is, the cleansing which pro- 
ceeds from love and extends to all venial sins, is of vast importance. 
We are, furthermore, reminded of this truth, even in the mass 
itself, by a deep-meaning ceremony and of the command and the 
invitation of Jesus. The lavabo after the offertory is a substitute 
for the washing of the feet, since the entire ceremony of the washing 
of the feet would be too difficult. The priest purifies the tips of 
the fingers in order that no dust remain on the hands which shortly 



366 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



thereafter are to touch the most Blessed Sacrament. The psalm 
to be recited points, however, to the spiritual purification: the 
tips of the fingers are to be cleansed, i.e., the most minute impurity 
is to be removed, the most trivial sin, and every attachment to 
the smallest sin ought be washed away through love and contri- 
tion, in order that the abandonment of Christ may fully correspond 
to our own abandonment. That which ought be done in every 
mass and communion — is most becoming on the day of the insti- 
tution of Holy Communion. 

If, finally, we consider both the Epistle (I Cor. n) and the 
Gospel (the washing of the feet), we will receive as an answer to 
the abandonment of Christ the description of our complete aban- 
donment through purification from grievous and venial sins, and, 
at the same time, the most exalted description of the complete 
praeparatio substantialis et accidentalis ad communionem. The 
Apostle admonishes us: Probet autem seipsum homo, et sic de pane 
Mo edat et de calice bibat, qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judi- 
cium sibi manducat et bibit, non dijudicans corpus Domini. But 
to those who live in a state of grace or who have regained grace 
through confession, the Lord says: Qui lotus est, non indiget, nisi 
ut pedes lavet, sed est mundus totus. 

The washing of the feet, however, describes, moreover, the 
abandonment of men for Christ, from a new view-point, which the 
preacher really need not develop at once, if he does not wish to 
confine himself to this theme of the abandonment of Christ. The 
Saviour desires: 

(b) An abandonment to a genuine love of neighbor. If Christ 
shows us, through the washing of the feet, His abandonment for 
men in an irresistible manner, then He is justified in saying: Vos 
vocatis me Magister et Domine: et bene dicitis: sum etenim. Si ergo 
ego lavi pedes vestros, Dominus et magister: et vos debetis alter alterius 
lavare pedes. Exemplum dedi vobis, ut quemadmodum ego feci vobis, 
ita et vos faciatis. The abandonment of Christ in the washing of 
the feet, as we have seen, is a true school for our preparation for 
Holy Communion. Venial sins especially, of which we have just 
spoken, abound especially in the range of the love of neighbor (com- 
pare herewith the contention about position among the Apostles, 
shortly before the Last Supper, Luke 22: 24-30, and the admoni- 
tion to love, in the parting addresses of the Lord). The Saviour 
shows us, immediately before the first communion of the Apostles, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 367 



how love of neighbor expresses itself in a thousand small atten- 
tions, services, and condescensions: exemplum dedi vobis, and how 
easily jealousies, even in the proximity of the Blessed Sacrament, 
discord, and little contentions displease the Lord. The contention 
about rank among the disciples and the washing of the feet afford 
precisely an opportunity to the preacher to treat this most impor- 
tant and, especially for frequent communion, very significant ques- 
tion of love of neighbor in an earnest, forceful manner, and at the 
same time without any exaggeration. 

If the Lord remits our entire and ponderous guilt of sin, if He 
prepares us through wise instructions for Holy Communion, if He 
gives us Himself as the greatest gift of God to humanity, if, thus, 
we all become one body because we all partake of one Bread (I Cor. 
10: 17) — ought we quarrel in such a school on our way, ought we 
afflict our neighbor, become fault-finders, and respond to the pre- 
paring abandonment of the Lord, which He manifested in the 
washing of the feet, with unkindness and hard-heartedness against 
the brethren? (p. 538 (c); 545.) The Saviour desires: 

(c) An abandonment which proceeds from true humility. The 
above described (n. I, p. 365) example of the Saviour is a great 
incentive, indeed, for an overwhelming and lovely abandonment in 
humility: in humility of spirit (faith — practise of faith) and in 
humility of the heart (sentiment and practise of humility at Holy 
Communion). Compare the words of the Gospel with a solid 
treatise on humility, f.i., of Lehmkuhl, Theo. Moral., I. Vol.; St. 
Thomas, II. II, de humilitate, and with the gradual of the mass, 
etc., p. 596. 

Holy Thursday unfolds especially a complete view of this aban- 
donment of humanity to the Saviour, in the love of God, and in 
perfect contrition, in the love of neighbor and in humility. It 
consists of: 

(a) The penitents of the ancient Church who are reconciled to 
God and to the Church. 

(/3) The secret penitents of all times, who deplore, confess, and 
do penance. 

(y) The innumerable crowds of communicants of all times and 
places; and finally: 

(8) The priests who gather around their bishop, pastor, or 
rector of the Church: an expressive picture of the love of God and of 
neighbor and of humble submission. 



368 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The homilist might therefore describe, in connection with the 
abandonment of Jesus in the washing of the feet, the universal 
abandonment of Christians, or that in the preparation for Holy 
Communion. 

We celebrate expressly: 

2. The abandonment of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the 
Altar. As the sun shines often most brightly and in all his splendor 
in the evening, at his setting, so, too, does it happen at the sunset 
of the life of Jesus. Jesus Who was near His Apostles and con- 
temporaries and became to them, in a perfect sense, their Emmanuel, 
the God with us — desires to remain personally near all genera- 
tions and souls in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We 
are now experiencing, in fact, the glorious sunset of the life of 
Jesus: The institution of the Most Holy Sacrament: cum dilexisset 
suos, qui erant in mundo, in finem dilexit eos. We have fully de- 
veloped the dogmatic and ascetic thoughts on this abandonment 
further on, in the description of Easter Monday, Low Sunday, 
and of the feasts of Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 
also, partly above, in the treatment of Lenten sermons, p. 309 or 
359. The preacher ought, above all, describe the sentiments of 
the Apostles in this last and greatest abandonment of Christ. He 
should briefly recall to mind the preparation of one year ago (pp. 
309 and 310), and the above described preparation at the paschal 
banquet and the washing of the feet, and then develop the aban- 
donment of Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in 
rapid and impressive lines, according to the evangelical accounts. 
(Luke 22: 19, 20; Mark 14: 22-24; Matt. 26: 26-28; I Cor. 11: 23- 
35.) He should especially emphasize Holy Thursday as the day of 
the celebration of the Last Supper, the first mass of Christ, the first 
communion of the Apostles, the first ordination of priests with the 
Easter communion at the one mass, but likewise as the day of com- 
munion for the people. (If a holy day should fall on this day, it is not 
mentioned in the liturgy, but must be celebrated in foro, and then 
also several private masses are permitted.) The episcopal conse- 
cration of the oils for the holy sacraments is connected with the 
Holy Sacrament of the altar and the sacerdotal feast. An old 
tradition also speaks of a blessing of oil by Christ at the Last Sup- 
per. The natal day of the chalice is also the birthday of the priest. 
As the Apostles gathered around the Saviour, so, today, the clergy 
gather around the bishop, prelates, and pastors, and receive Holy 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



369 



Communion with the people from their hands. This is the source 
and the type of union with Christ and of the Christians among 
themselves in faith, in grace, and in love — it is really the abandon- 
ment in Christ. This abandonment is the central object of the 
celebration of mass. 

The mass, however, has a double character: of sorrow, on account 
of the abandonment of Christ to suffering in general, which we will 
describe further on (Introit, Kyrie) ; and of joy over the abandon- 
ment of Jesus in the sacrament of the altar (solemn gloria with the 
full ringing of the bells and the playing of the organ — a white 
vellum on the cross — white color of vestments), and again the deep- 
est sorrow on account of the abandonment of Jesus to prayer in the 
garden of Olives, in the betrayal by Judas, and in the captivity of 
Jesus (see more fully below, n. III). To the abandonment of Jesus 
in the sacrament of the altar our own abandonment in Jesus cor- 
responds. The response to the washing of the feet was love and 
contrition in the spirit of humility : in a word a preparatory love. The 
response to the abandonment in the Blessed Sacrament is : an abid- 
ing, true love. The preacher might briefly develop this in connection 
with the glorious text which the Lord addresses to the communi- 
cants: Qui manducat me vivet propter me. (John 6, 58). The com- 
municant lives solely for Christ: Christ lives personally within him 
and remains with him in His divinity. The power of Christ lives in 
him, and is surely able to preserve him from all mortal sins and to 
enable him to make strenuous progress in the amelioration of char- 
acter. The sentiments of Christ dwell in him: joy in duty, and joy in 
virtue (other thoughts see below, in the treatment of Low Sunday 
and the feast of Corpus Christi, also of Holy Saturday. Compare 
also pp. 162, 163, and 329.) This abiding love or abiding life might 
also be shown in the customary prayers after Holy Communion, f .i. 
Christ offered Himself in the sacrament of the altar, and we ought 
give ourselves at once to Him: in praise of God, in humility, in 
adoration, in thanksgiving, in self-sacrifice, in prayer. The spirit of 
these prayers should dominate within us as an abiding love until our 
next communion. Holy Thursday celebrates, furthermore, a third 
abandonment of the Lord. 

3. The abandonment of Christ in suffering and death. This 
abandonment is celebrated in the matutinum tenebrarum on the 
previous evening, in the mass, as far as the solemnity of sorrow 
extends, and in the ceremonies after mass. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Formerly, when at the close of the nocturnal matins at the 
words: f actus obediens usque ad mortem , the last candle was extin- 
guished and the only burning light hidden, the choir and the people 
sat in nocturnal darkness. This was a deeply touching image of 
the taking away of the bridegroom Christ Jesus and of His abandon- 
ment in the night of death into which He enters in order to call us 
into His exalted light and kingdom. And even today the antici- 
pated matins arouse similar thoughts. If we compare herewith the 
Psalms, the lessons and the responses, the oration of the mass and 
also the introduction of the Gospel of John to the account of the 
events of Holy Thursday (c. 13, 1), furthermore, the parting ad- 
dresses of the Lord, the prayer in the garden of Olives, the executed 
betrayal of Judas, the captivity — then we might say: Holy Thurs- 
day celebrates the beginning of the abandonment of Jesus in His 
Passion and this abandonment itself in grand sketches. The 
preacher might show this by several thoughts on the scenes of Mt. 
Olive, f.i., non mea voluntas fiat, sed tua (the abandonment of the 
heart), or the voluntary abandonment at the captivity (abandon- 
ment to the act), or he might develop the same thoughts in a 
special homily on the scene of Mt. Olive. 

The abandonment of the Lord in His Passion is likewise impres- 
sively depicted by the ceremonies after mass, the explanation of which 
would constitute another grateful homiletic task, whether this be 
done on Holy Thursday or during Lent. 

(a) The taking of Christ from the tabernacle. A solemn proces- 
sion is instituted with the hostia praesanctificata to a richly orna- 
mented side-chapel of the church or into a sacristy of easy access to 
the people. This ceremony arose mainly from a liturgical necessity 
of the missa praesanctificatorum. This the procession developed 
into a symbolical celebration of the Passion. Christ the Saviour, 
the God-Man, flees again, as it were, from His city and His holy 
house. The singular procession, at which the hymn, Pange lingua 
gloriosi corporis mysterium, is chanted, may be interpreted as a 
memorial of the procession of the suffering of Christ to Mt. Olive 
and from Mt. Olive to Calvary. We flee, as it were, with Him and 
proceed to the solemn adoration of the enclosed sacred Host in the 
richly ornamented and illuminated chapel, where likewise the rest 
of the sacred species are concealed. The sacred Hosts for com- 
munions of the sick may also be preserved, in the meantime, else- 
where, in a becoming manner in the sacristy. The tabernacle of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 371 



the church, however, remains open; the house of the Lord is deso- 
late and abandoned. The people ought be instructed, through 
sermon and catechetical explanations, to a full understanding con- 
cerning this silent celebration. The procession and likewise the 
visits to the Blessed Sacrament on Holy Thursday are transformed 
into acts of atonement before the Blessed Sacrament, for the flight 
of His own during the Passion and for the flight of innumerable 
Christians from the truths of Christ, from grace, and from His 
person in the Most Adorable Sacrament, and, finally, for the dis- 
honor shown to the Blessed Sacrament. The hidden Sacrament in 
the illuminated and decorated altar-chapel or in the sacristy should, 
therefore, be accessible at least on Holy Thursday. Only on the 
morning of Good Friday is the sacred host brought back in 
procession from this place for the missa praesanctificatorum. 

(b) The uncovering of the altars of Christ signifies the robbing of 
Christ of His liberty and of His glory: it is a sign of the deepest aban- 
donment and humiliation of Christ. (Compare some of the thoughts 
of Psalm 31 and its antiphones.) The removing from the taber- 
nacle symbolizes the last journey of Christ. The divesting of the 
altars recalls the losses of Christ on His last journey: He lost 
liberty, health, honor, even His vestments and His life. 

To Christ's abandonment in His Passion and death corresponds, 
on our part, a certain willingness to carry our cross, to suffer and to 
die. We here wish to refer again to some thoughts which we have 
already developed above, p. 86. But the best thoughts for an 
awakening of a courageous following in the way of the cross of 
Christ, entirely in the spirit of Holy Thursday, are contained in 
ch. 11 and 12 of the II Book of the Imitation of Christ: de pauci- 
tate amatorum crucis Christi — de regia via sanctae cruris, f.i., ch. 12 : 
Plures inveni Jesus socios mensae, sed paucos abstinentiae. Omnes 
cupiunt cum eo gaudere, pauci volunt pro eo aliquid sustinere. Multi 
Jesum sequuntur usque ad fr actionem panis, sed pauci usque ad biben- 
dum calicem passionis, etc. Could possibly more apt thoughts be 
found on the abandonment of Christ in the sacrament and in His 
suffering and upon our response on Holy Thursday? 

A homiletic conclusion. We recommend to the homilist, in the spirit 
of this liturgy, a reading, a meditation, a sketching and elaboration of 
all the biblical events which fall upon the eve of Holy Thursday. (For 
this consult: Das Leben Jesu, by Grimm, by Meschler, Bishop Keppler: 
Unseres Herrn Trost, and the Evangelienharmonie of Lohmann, das 



372 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Leben unseres Herrn . . . nach den vier Evangelien, p. 225-289). 
Next to Good Friday there is no day of the year, of which Holy Scripture 
gives such an extensive report as of Holy Thursday. Here the preacher 
can find inexhaustible sources for evening sermons on this day, for Lenten 
sermons, for Sacred Heart Sermons, etc. The entire picture might be so 
arranged that the several events may appear as steps to a climax, or, 
by pregnant sketching, divisions, and limitations, as several themes of a 
cycle. (See sketches, p. 306 sqq.) 

For sermons on the Blessed Sacrament consult also the IV. Sunday 
of Lent, Corpus Christi, Low Sunday, and Easter-Monday. 

The above sketches of the day itself may be compressed into one 
sermon, with proper limitations, or point by point may be transformed 
into a series of sermons. The mysteries alone, and eventually also the 
liturgy of Holy Thursday, may be properly explained in all Lenten 
sermons. (Compare above, p. 306-308.) 

§ 41. Good Friday 
Love unto Death and the Bloody Sacrifice 

"Ecce lignum cruris" 

I. Historical Remarks 

1. The history of the name. The German name: Karfreitag — is 
explained by the expression : Karwoche — The liturgical designation 
Feria VI in Parasceve. Parasceve, according to St. Mark, is the day 
before the Sabbath, the day of preparation for the Sabbath — Friday. 
The expression in use by the Greek-speaking Jews signifies preparation, 
metonymically the day itself. The word passed into Christian usage. 
The ecclesiastical writers of the early Christian Church, also Latin writers, 
call every Friday parasceve. In the Greek Church, even to this day, 
every Friday is called irapao-^evrij but Good Friday rj dy ta Kai fieydXr) 
irapacryevY) . Very ancient is also the expression Pascha. Tertullian, 
in de or at. 18, calls the day of the death of Christ — Pascha. In an- 
other passage (Adv. Prax. 10) he uses pascha as a synonym of Passio 
Christi. The pascha of the Old Testament, with the sacrifice of the 
paschal lamb, occasioned the same designation for the transitus Domini, 
the sacrifice of the atonement on Calvary, of the New Testament. 
Afterwards there was a distinction made between the irdd^a aravpo)- 
cTLfiov (Good Friday), and a Trd&ya dvacrrdcriixov (Easter). Finally 
pascha was used permanently and exclusively for "Easter." The roman- 
esque languages use the expression "Holy Friday": the French, Ven- 
dredi saint; Ital., Venerdi santo; Span., Viernes santo. The names of 
other languages: Eng., Good Friday; Hoi, Goed Vrijdag; Dan. and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 373 



Swed.; Langfredag; Pol. and Russ., "The great Friday"; Boh. and 
Lithu., "The silent Friday," etc. 

2. The history of the day. (a) The date of the first Good Friday. 
The question concerning the date of the first Good Friday has received 
a manifold advancement in more recent times. It appears as if a solu- 
tion were imminent. The Catholic exegete Van Bebber (Biblil. Zeit- 
schrift, 2 Jahrgang, 1 Heft, p. 66-67), traces the day of the death of 
Jesus to a Friday, the 15 Nisan, i. e., the seventh of April, the year 30 
after Christ of the common era; 783 u. c. with one year's public activity 
of Christ. (See Van Bebber, Zur Chronologie des Lebens Jesu, Minister, 
Schoeningh. 1898, and Belser, Bibl. Zeitschr. 2, Jahrg. Heft 1 und 2, 
p. 55 sqq., 166 sqq.): Zur Hypothese von der einjaerigen Wirksamkeit 
Christi. Fl. Riess, SJ., in "das Geburtsjahr Christi, ein chronolo- 
gischer Versuch mit einem Synchronismus liber die Fiille der Zeit" 
(Herder, Ergaenzungsheft der Stimmen aus Maria-Laach 11 and 12 
(1880), p. 125) places the day of the birth of Jesus on Dec. 25, 1 ante 
Christum; the circumcision on Jan. 1, o ante Christum (the begin- 
ning of year 1 after Christ) ; the public appearance of John in the year 
29 a.d. — 782 u. c, in the summer; the public appearance of Christ 
almost thirty years of age, about November 782; the death of Jesus 
33 years a.d., 786 u. c, 01. 202, 4, April 3, on a Friday. Grimm-Zahn, 
in "Leben Jesu" (compare 2, VII. B. p. 596 sqq.), places the 
birth of Christ in 748 u. c, Dec. 25, the fifth year before Christ, i.e., 5 
years before our chronological calculation; the death of Christ on Friday, 
15 Nisan 783 u. c, 30 a.d. The Protestant Dr. H. Achelis deter- 
mined April 6, and the 14 Nisan, as the day of the death of Christ, 
after taking the phases of the moon of the Jerusalem time into account, 
on which day the paschal lamb was killed, and that day fell in this year 
upon a Friday. 

Considering the calculations of Dr. Achelis, with some corrections, 
Van Bebber finds April 7, 783, the 15 Nisan to be the day of the 
death. R. Handmann, S.J. (Natur und Offenbarung, V. Heft, 1904, 
p. 286-295), finds "the year of the death of Jesus to be the year 783 
u.c, or the year 30 after Christ of the common chronology, so 
well founded and established, and fitting so exactly and harmoniously 
into the whole fabric of chronology," that its correctness may no 
longer be doubted. "Should any doubts still remain against it, these 
are possibly entirely dispelled by the most recent calculations of 
the phases of the moon, and thus the day of the death of Christ 
may be safely and certainly established in the more modern chronology 
as the seventh day of April A.D. 30, or 783 u. c. (15 Nisan) (1. c. p. 255). 
According to Handmann and Dr. Raska, April 7, of the year 30 after 
Christ is precisely in the middle of the seventy weeks of the years of the 



374 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Prophet Daniel (I.e., p. 294). Compare Prof. Dr. Raska, for the cal- 
culation of the seventy weeks of the years of Daniel, Linzer Quartalschr, 
1904, Heft 1, p. 13 sqq. Raska, whom Handmann follows in this matter, 
puts the birth of Christ in 749 u.c. (5 before Christ, in consequence of 
the faulty chronology), the baptism of Jesus on January 6 in the 
twelfth year of the sole reign — and in the fifteenth year of the co-reign 
of Tiberius, i.e., the twenty-seventh of the common chronology, and the 
day of the death also on April 7, 783, according to our chronology, 30 
years after Christ: Jesus thus lived 33 years and 3 J months. Accord- 
ing to Raska the following is the result of the calculation of the weeks of 
the years of Daniel: King Xerxes ascended the throne 485 years before 
Christ. Twenty-five years later (461-460), simultaneously with the 
twentieth year of the reign of Artaxerxes, Nehemias, came to Jerusalem 
and began the building of the wall. After the completion of the same, 
in 2 years and 4 months, in the year 458, the dedication of the city took 
place on the day of atonement, of the 10 Tischri, i.e., on Wednesday, 
Oct. 11, 458 before Christ. From 69 \ years of weeks — 486^ years 
to 457J before the beginning of our chronology 29! years are to be 
subtracted from the time after its beginning. The middle of its 70 
weeks of years occurs therefore one fourth year, equal to three months, 
after the beginning of the year 30 of our present chronology, i.e., in the 
beginning of the month of April of the year 30 or 783 u. c. The as- 
tronomical calculations and the results following therefrom point, how- 
ever, to the seventh of April, of the year 30 or 783 u.c. These weeks 
of years contain roundly 177,691 days; of these 82 occur in 458 (11, 
Oct. to Dec. 31); 166,920 in the years from 457 — 1 before Christ (with 
117 leap years); 10,592 days in the years 1-29 after Christ (with 7 
leap years); 97 days in the year 30 after Christ (Jan. 1, to April 7). 
This gives us again 177,691 days of the weeks of years. Thus calculates 
Raska. Compare also Handmann, Natur und Offenbarung, 1904, 
p. 294. Handmann therefore fully confirms the corrections made by 
Van Bebber in the calculations of Dr. Achelis, and also his peculiar 
dating of Good Friday on April 7, 30 years after Christ and 783 u c. 
But he also sets aside the theory of the same regarding the one year 
of Christ's activity, and he places, in contradiction to our chronological 
calculation the birth of Christ toward the end of the year before Christ 
anno 749 u.c. 

(b) The history of the day continued. Good Friday, with Easter, 
belongs, as the one divided paschal feast, to the most ancient Christian 
feasts. Tertullian, de jejun. c. 2; 13,14, and Eusebius trace the fast of 
Good Friday back to apostolical ordinances. Good Friday is now and 
then designated, in the oldest documents, as a feast: rj tov crcorrjpiov Ua- 
0ovs iopTij (Euseb, Hist. E. 2 : 17 ; 82). Still this feast on which, in many 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 375 



parts, the affairs of the courts and servile works were prohibited, was no 
proper feast-day, but a day of sorrow. 1 This character of sorrow is 
proclaimed by the tradition of most ancient times, with an astonishing 
unanimity. The sorrow was especially expressed by a rigorous fast. 
Another most ancient form of sorrow was manifested by the abstention 
from the holy sacrifice of mass, since Christ Himself had offered the 
bloody sacrifice on this day. This custom developed itself, in parts, 
into an aliturgical day. It seems as if in many places the celebration 
was limited to the singing of the Psalms. In a letter of Innocent I, 
Epist. ad Decentium Eug. XXV, c. 2, we read: Constat, apostolos biduo 
isto in moerore fuisse et propter metum Judaeorum occuluisse. Quod 
utique non dubium est, in tantuni eos jejunasse biduo memorato ut traditio 
Ecclesiae habeat, isto biduo sacr amenta penitus non celebrari. Kellner 
remarks in reference to this passage: Sacramenta here means "masses," 
as sacramentarium is the synonym of missal. It would seem that at that 
time, during the entire Lent, the two last days of the week were of 
ancient liturgical custom. For the Pope continues : Quae utique forma 
per singulas tenenda est hebdomadas. This expression is to be taken 
absolutely literally, in the sense that also on Good Friday the miss a 
praesanctificatorum was not to be celebrated. 2 The present mass of 
Holy Saturday was formerly celebrated on Easter night. The expres- 
sion "penitus" seems to support this opinion. Besides, the missa prae- 
sanctificatorum is a sort of an extended communion service, in so far, 
and also on account of its connection with the previously celebrated 
consecration-mass, it is counted among the sacramenta of which 
Innocent says penitus non celebrari. In Spain this aliturgical char- 
acter rose to an excess. There, in some regions, the churches were 
entirely closed on Good Friday. Against this false exaggeration the 
fourth synod of Toledo protested in the year 633 (can. 8), and ordained 
that the mystery of the cross be preached and all the people plead, with 
a loud voice, for forgiveness of sin. But at the same time, the synod 
emphasizes the custom that "the whole Church spend Good Friday in 
sorrow and abstinence, on account of the Passion of the Lord." 

The Missa praesanctificatorum, "the mass of the previously conse- 
crated gifts," i.e, the celebration of the Passion and communion with a 
host consecrated on the proceeding day, is, without doubt, of ancient 
origin. It is celebrated in the Greek rite on all days of Lent, with the 
exception of Saturdays and Sundays, and of the feast of the Annuncia- 
tion. The Greek custom of presanctification probably reached Rome 

1 The eccles. ordinance of the time of Constantine designates it, and also Holy 
Saturday, as a day of sorrow, not as a feast-day. Const. Apost. V. 18. Compare 
Kellner, Heortology, p. 50, note 6. 

2 Heortology, p. 51, m. Note 4, p. 52. 



376 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



by way of Gaul. It makes its first appearance in the Gelasianum, which 
in its present form, discloses very strong Gallican influences. In many 
places, especially of Gaul, the missa praesanctiftcatorum was combined 
with a general communion. This custom began to spread here and 
there in the western Church. The Gregorianum contains this remark: 
et communicantes omnes. But this may be of a Gallican origin. In 
Gaul this communion still obtained in the ninth century, whereas in Rome 
the celebrant alone received Holy Communion. Amalarius, in his work 
de ecclesiasticis officiis, i: 15, relates that he had questioned a Roman 
deacon on this matter and received from him the answer : In statione ubi 
apostolicus salutat crucem, nemo ibi communicat. The or do Rom. L, on 
the contrary (Migne 78, 954), mentions the general communion: "et 
communicant omnes cum silentio." 1 

3. For the rest of the especially characteristic celebrations of Good 
Friday we must seek the source in Jerusalem. The oft-mentioned report 
of the pilgrimage of Silvia, of the year 385, found in 1884 by Gamarini, 
leaves us not for a moment in doubt about this. 

After the people had been dismissed (see above Holy Thursday, 
Historical remarks, p. 361) early on Good Friday, they assembled again 
about 7 o'clock, in the chapel of the Holy Cross, for the first forenoon 
divine service. The Bishop occupied his cathedra. Then the holy cross 
with the title was brought in a silver case. The cross was taken from 
the case and placed before the bishop upon a table covered with white 
linen, and at which the deacons held watch. After this the faithful and 
the catechumens approached, bowed deeply, kissed the cross, touched 
it with forehead and eyes, but not with the hands. This is the most 
ancient account of the adoratio crucis, which gradually spread over all 
the churches of the West, where a larger particle of the cross or an image 
of the cross and later of the crucified Redeemer was venerated. The 
Gelasianum recognises a celebration of the adoratio crucis, of a solemn 
and most respectful veneration of the cross, but not at this place of the 
present rite. The Gregorianum prescribes it for Vespers time, with the 
antiphon: Ecce lignum crucis. Only by degrees and afterwards did 
the trisagion appear in particular ordines and ecclesiastical decrees, which 
points to a Greek origin, as do also the improperia. 

Silvia describes, furthermore, a second noonday divine service 
which took place in the court, between the chapel of the Holy Cross and 
the church of Anastasis, with interminable lessons on the Passion of Christ 
taken from the Old and the New Testaments, until the time for Nones, 
therefore three hours, until three o'clock in the afternoon. Then the 
divine service was concluded at the hour of the death of Christ, with 
John 19:30: Cum ergo accepisset Jesus acetum, dixit: Consummatum est. 
1 See the interesting details given by Kellner, Heortology, p. 52 and note 4. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 377 

Et inclinato capite tradidit spiritum. Herewith the second service of 
the highly impressed and excited congregation ended. Even to this day 
the chanter of the Passion stops at this passage of the Passion of John 
on Good Friday: Hie genuflectitur et pausatur aliquantulum: in silence 
the celebrant and his assistants fall upon their knees, affected by that 
which has been read. 

Silvia reports a third divine service, which was at once resumed in the 
main church. The Passion of John was continued to c. 19: 38 sqq., 
wherein the descent of the cross is described. About at the same passage, 
even today, the Passion of John is ended with the supplement which 
is sung in tono evangelii. One would naturally surmise that the sup- 
plement of John 19: 30 sqq., in tono evangelii, corresponded with this 
third Statio, with almost the same lesson, and the following orations of 
the present day, and with those prayers mentioned and added by Silvia 
and with the blessing of the catechumens with which the divine service 
concluded. 1 

The monitiones and orationes with the flectamus genua 2 are very 
ancient. Similar prayers were formerly recited at every celebration of 
the mass, and the present canon is also intimately related thereto. 
Coelestin I (died 422) calls such orations an apostolic tradition and a 
uniform custom of prayer of the Church. {Ad episcopos Gall., c. 11) 
They were gradually shortened and set aside through the development 
of the changeable liturgy of the feasts, but on Good Friday retained 
their ancient and full development, corresponding to the spirit of the 
day in an unique manner. For a long time they were retained on the 
Wednesday of Holy Week, and even today, the Wednesday contains, 
not infrequently, a longer liturgy in the mass. An ordinance of Salz- 
burg, of 799, says: "Should you desire to follow the Roman custom, 
then you must also recite on the Wednesday before Coena Domini the 
orations which are prescribed for Good Friday (Hefele Hist, of the 
Councils, III. 732; see Kirchenlexicon : Good Friday, p. 77). In 
the Gelasianum the orations are placed at the beginning of the liturgy, 
and they are recited before the Holy Cross. In the Gregorianum 
they appear twice, on Wednesday and on Good Friday, but not at 
the beginning of the service. 

This historical survey is intended to secure a deeper under- 
standing of the liturgy so wisely collected, constructed, and simplified 
by ecclesiastical law. The first of the ancient ordos — edited by 
Mabillon — gives a comprehensive development of the whole ancient 
rite, which probably originated in the ninth or the eighth century. 

The Roman Statio is: "ad Sanctam Cruceni in Jerusalem,." This 
reawakens a remembrance of Jerusalem, with which we desire to be 

1 See Kellner, Heortologie, pp. 43, 44. 2 See also Holy Saturday. 



378 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



most intimately in touch on this day. The present church of Santa 
Croce, alas! much changed by later (720, 1144, and especially 1743) 
restorations, was one of those interesting Roman churches, which were 
constructed from antique public halls. At the request of his mother, 
St. Helena, Constantine arranged it from the halls and drawing-rooms 
of the Sessorian palace. An ancient tradition maintained that St. 
Helena placed into the still existing subterranean chapel much earth 
which she had brought from Mt. Calvary in Jerusalem. This, with the 
precious relics of the Passion (particles of the cross, the nails, etc.) pre- 
served herein, which, according to tradition, were found by St. Helena 
with the Holy Cross and brought here, transports the congregation in 
spirit to Jerusalem: Statio ad S. Crucem in Jerusalem. This sacred 
place was, therefore, also simply called the basilica of Jerusalem. All 
these circumstances incited to an imitation, as near as possible, of the 
liturgy of Good Friday. St. Helena's relation to the Holy Land, as well 
as the later Roman Christian colonies and cloistered congregations in 
Jerusalem, fostered this endeavor. And gradually the custom taught 
by Rome, the center of Christendom, became a holy law of the uniquely 
beautiful and harmoniously developed and still extant celebration of 
Good Friday. 

II. Liturgic-Homiletic Remarks 

We may consider the fundamental thoughts of the liturgy 
under the following view-points: 

1. Homage to the Passion of Christ, or the prostratio. Without 
candles, without incense, without an accompanying Introit, in dark 
colors of deep sorrow, the celebrant and the minister proceed 
to the uncovered altar, prostrate upon the floor, and pray in 
silence for a while. The Church can find no words and no chant 
to express the greatness of the mystery, the entire mysterium 
crucis which today is unfolded and to announce the same. This 
prostratio is: 

(a) Adoration. The creature lies in the dust — before his 
Creator, Who, today, reveals His plan of the world — and before 
the Saviour, Who executes it : agnitio absolutae divinae celsitudinis 
nostraeque omnimodae dependentiae: omne genu flectatur coelestium, 
terrestrium et infernorum (see p. 232, sqq.). 

(b) Astonishment at the incomprehensible greatness of this 
work. The sinful creature makes an attempt to: comprehendere 
cum omnibus Sanctis quae sit latitudo et longitudo et sublimitas et 
profundum . . . charitatis Christi. But this love of Christ sur- 
passes all our understanding : super eminens scientiae charitas Christi 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(Eph. 3: 18, 19). The redeemed child of man sinks into the dust: 
wondering and astounded, looking up to the crucified. And this 
prostration is 

(c) Love, a return of love which brings itself fully and wholly 
and unreservedly to the sacrifice (see pp. 297, 298, 259, 260, 
364 sqq.) 

The celebrant and his ministers rise. The Church now proceeds 
from the first silent homage to the celebration of the Passion of 
Christ. She celebrates: 

2. The preliminary history of the Passion of Christ in the first 
lessons. She takes up: 

(a) The book of the Prophet Osee (c. 6), and announces in the 
stillness of ineffable sorrow: the renewal of life, the new life after two 
days: vivificabit nos post duos dies: et in die tertia curabit nos et 
vivemus (see the liturgy of Holy Saturday) . It seems as if the Church 
must needs be first revivified by a ray of hope in order to be enabled 
to celebrate today a liturgy at all. Therefore she takes up 

(b) The book of Exodus (c.12), and announces: the renewal of 
life, the new life through the paschal lamb. 

Still the Church cannot tarry long in the preliminary history of 
the Passion of Christ. She has prepared herself during a long time : 
today is the day of the Passion and of death itself, and therefore 
she celebrates, in a grand and dramatic manner, 

3. The history of the Passion of Christ according to the Passion 
of John : Non judicavi me scire aliquid inter vos nisi Jesum et hunc 
crucifixum (I Cor. 2:2). And she reads today the Passion according 
to the highest and the most direct witness, according to John, who 
was an eye witness of the acts of the Passion and of the death of the 
Lord, who also rested, as the beloved disciple, on the bosom of the 
Master going to His Passion, and who was vouchsafed a glance 
into the opened heart of love. Again there passes before us 

(a) the betrayed and the captive Jesus, Who has lost His 
liberty (c. 18: 8-15), and yet goes voluntarily unto death (John 18: 
4, 5, 6, 7-13). 

(b) Jesus dragged to the courts and misjudged, Whose rights are 
ignored but Who reserves His divine rights: 

(a) As the Son of God (John 18: 5, 6, 36, 37); 
08) As a King (John 8: 37); 

(y) As a King of His supernatural kingdom of truth and of grace 
(John 18: 36-38). There passes us by 



380 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(c) Jesus hated and denied, Who forfeits love and yet remains 
the eternally saving and converting love. His own flee, the "Rock," 
the privileged Apostle, denies Him: one candle after the other is 
extinguished, until the love of Jesus burns alone, at which the peni- 
tent Peter again rekindles the extinguished light of his love and of 
grace, and of which all will receive new light and new life at Easter 
(John 18: 25 sqq., see above Matutinum tenebrarum). And, further- 
more, in the Passion of John there passes us by 

(d) The suffering Jesus Who, under the scourging by the exe- 
cutioners and sinners and under the cross of the Jews and the 
Pagans, loses His health, and, though there is no longer any health in 
Him, He merits for us supernatural health and dispenses it through 
the forgiveness of sins (John 19: 1-17; see above the lessons of 
Osee and Exodus). 

And finally there stands upon Calvary 

(e) The crucified and the dying Christ Who loses all, even 
His last garment, and the very last drop of His blood in order to 
gain all for us, eternal salvation with its grace and glory 
(John 19:17-30), Who sacrifices His life that we might live and 
live more abundantly. The Passion of John still will have us 
tarry a while longer on Calvary, until a lance opens the side of 
Jesus and blood and water flow therefrom. Then there appears 
before us 

(/) Jesus pierced with a lance and His heart opened. Now He 
has no more to lose and no more to give. The evangelist solemnly 
testifies: "He that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony 
is true. And he knoweth that he speaketh the truth ; that you also 
may believe." Then he lets us stand on the bloody height and at 
the bloody altar. The deepest root of the sacrifice of the cross is 
dug up. The deepest fountain of all the acts of Christ is now wide 
open, His heart, the heart of His immeasurable love: viderunt in quern 
transfixerunt (John 19:37). Have we also a heart that loves 
penance, atonement, amendment of life and renewal of life? This 
is the silent question into which the Passion by the beloved disciple 
dies out. (Compare also above, Monday of Holy Week, the root of 
the tree of the cross, and p. 379; see below — feast of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus.) 

During the silent pause and afterwards at the account, by John, 
of the burial of Christ, in tono evangelii (John 19: 31-42), our reso- 
lutions to nail the old man to the cross, to bury him with Christ, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 381 



and to rise in the newness of life, ought to mature. (See above, pp. 
161 and 162.) 

To the meditation of the preparatory history and the history 
of the Passion of Jesus follows a touching presentation of the 
extension of the Passion of Christ. 

4. The extension of the Passion of Christ to all men and all classes: 
the orationes and monitiones or the fruits thereof. The " length and 
the breadth and the height and depth of the love " and of the Passion 
of Christ, to all men without exception (Eph. 3 : 18, 19; see above p. 
416) are nowhere more splendidly presented than in the general 
touching orations of Good Friday. The Church feels the burning 
fire of Christ, which He brought upon this earth, within herself: 
charitas Christi urget nos. She longs to lead all, all to Calvary, to 
Him Who once said: "When I shall be exalted (on the cross) I shall 
draw all to myself." Thus the Church prays in a solemn and loud 
voice and in constant invocations and exhortations to join in prayer 
for all the faithful and all who are preparing to be received into the 
faith by baptism and conversion, for shepherds and flock, for Church 
and State, for heretics, schismatics, pagans, Jews, and infidels of all 
kinds. This is a picture of real tolerance under the cross, which hates 
error and loves the erring, which honors good faith and appeals 
more strongly through the Blood and the sacrifice of Christ to the 
Father of mercy for those who are in bad faith: accessistis ad 
testamenti novi mediatorem Jesum et sanguinis aspersionem melius 
loquentem quam Abel (Heb. 12: 24). While the Blood of Christ ap- 
peals to heaven, not for revenge, but for mercy, the Church invokes 
upon all men and all classes this same mercy : Deus vult omnes homi- 
nes salvos fieri. The orations themselves open to the preacher a 
wealth of inducements to develop this thought more fully. After 
the Church has grasped, after a silent homage paid to the Passion 
of the Lord, the preparatory history, the history and the length and 
breadth of His Passion, then she unfolds and develops the entire 
view of this Passion and death. 

5. The unveiling of the cross and the development of the entire 
Passion and of the fulness of the love of Christ or: the revelatio et 
adoratio crucis. This ceremony we have already considered above 
(p. 299), when treating of Passion Sunday, at the conclusion of the 
covering of the cross which was then begun. Here we shall empha- 
size the fundamental thoughts of the gradual solemn unveiling of 
the cross by the celebrant with the words: Ecce lignum crucis, in 



382 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



quo salus mundi pependit. The Church stands in the quiet, emptied 
temple devoid of all ornamentation: her only thought is of the 
crucified : non judicavi me scire aliquid inter vos nisi Jesum et hunc 
Crucifixum. Praedicamus vobis Christum Crucifixum Dei sapientiam 
et Dei virtutem. The Church desires to direct the eyes of all toward 
the cross — which stands solitary and alone : Ecce lignum crucis. 
The unveiling of the cross is : 

(a) An unveiling of the doctrine of the cross: praedicamus Chris- 
tum Crucifixum Dei sapientiam (see above Palm Sunday, p. 316 a. b. 
c. d. and 318 a. b. c). As an application and fruit of the doctrine 
of the cross she summons the entire people to the adoration of Christ 
and to the veneration of the cross of Christ. Veneration is due 

(a) to the cross of Golgotha; 

(fi) to every particle of this precious cross; 

(y) to every emblem and image of this precious cross, but 
above and in all 

(S) to the Crucified Himself. Here the supreme honor (ado- 
ratio) becomes a real adoration (adoratio latreutica). The Church 
cries out: Adoremus! But the clergy and the people come and 
prostrate, honor, and kiss the feet of the Crucified (see above, the 
history of Good Friday) and adore Him. (S. p. 415, 1 a.) 

This unveiling of the cross is furthermore : 

(b) An unveiling of the gifts of the graces of the cross (see the 
Improperia). Quid ultra debui facer e tibi et non feci. Praedicamus 
Christum Crucifixum Dei virtutem. The lamentations and the 
reproaches of the love of the Crucified are intended 

(a) for the people of Israel (compare the literal sense of the 
Improperia and the records of the Gospels) ; 

(/5) for the Israel of the New Testament, which He delivered from 
the Egypt of sin and leads back into the blessed land of the Church, 
of grace and of heaven, which Christ planted as His vineyard with 
His own hands and whose enemies He submerged into the Red sea 
of baptism and penance; which He precedes as a leading column 
of clouds of truth through the desert of this life and which He 
irrigates with the living waters of grace and feeds with the manna 
of the sacrament of the altar and transforms into a royal and priestly 
people and generation. (Compare the text and the Improperia 
and the II lesson of the III nocturn of Good Friday : Adeamus igitur 
cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae ut misericordiam consequamur.) 

(y) For the Israel of every individual soul, for each of which He 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 383 



does the same from the cradle to the grave, from baptism to extreme 
unction, and which is ever reaping the fruit of the blood-stained 
cross and the gifts of His transfixed hands. 

Our perfect love and contrition respond to the unveiling of the 
gifts of the graces of the cross under the reproaches of the love of 
Him Crucified. The liturgy here has become a marvelous school 
of love and contrition. 

(a) We still stand before the one and only Good, before the most 
lovable and supreme Good, hanging on the cross, before the Head 
covered with blood and wounds, before the Heart pierced and broken 
for us: Agios 0 Theos, Sanctus Deus! Agios ischyros, Sanctus fortisl 
Agios athanatos, eleison imasl Sanctus immor talis, miserere nobis! 
Sistemus in persona amata propter se. (See above, Sermons on the 
Passion of Christ and contrition, p. 315 sqq. and espec. pp. 319, 320 
sqq. a. b., and also — Thoughts on our homage to Jesus in love and 
contrition, on Holy Thursday, p. 364.) 

(/3) We are moved by the crucified Christ Himself, by all His good- 
ness and love, by all His noble qualities which are revealed by the 
Passion and the Improperia. Guided by the Improperia we ascend 
from the gifts to the giver, from the fruits of the crucifixion to the 
crucified Himself, of whose death we are guilty, and we are urged 
on to contrition and to love. (Compare above, Sermons on Con- 
fession, p. 319 sqq., Sermons on the Passion of Christ, pp. 323 sqq., 
318 sqq., and especially p. 315, V. question.) 

(y) We ofer Him the resolutions of Good Friday, both general 
and particular. The preacher should make very fitting applica- 
tions during these days, f.i., on loyalty in faith, on the fight 
against the predominant passion; regarding the young man or 
young woman about to be married, that they promise the Crucified 
Lord to enter a Catholic marriage and Catholic conditions under 
all circumstances; for fathers and mothers of families, or for the 
laboring classes, for the rich and the poor — for Friday, Sunday, and 
confession-day, for concrete cases of duties and of perfections, etc. 
The fundamental sentiment aroused by the liturgy and the ser- 
mon, by the vast concourse of people of all conditions and classes, 
all this promises a fruitful field for sowing. (Compare above, 
Passion Sunday and sermons on the Passion of Christ, p. 323 sqq.; 
compare also p. 70 sqq., p. 66 sqq. and especially p. 74.) 

6. The concluding celebration of the Passion and death of Christ on 
the cross, — Who today alone, and once and for ever, accomplished 



384 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



His sacrifice, — before the real Adorable Presence. This celebra- 
tion consists in the procession from the repository to the main altar 
and in the miss a praesanctificatorum. The Bridegroom who is 
taken from us today, still appears at the close of our Passion cele- 
bration. The liturgy proceeds in silence as far as communion. 
The sacrifice is not celebrated. And after communion the Lord 
Himself disappears from the halls of the temple, which is now 
desolate. The most ancient rite of the missa praesanctificatorum, 
which points to the bloody altar of Golgotha, is, as it were, popu- 
larized for preacher and people by the splendid lessons of the third 
nocturn of the Matutinum tenebrarum, taken from Heb., c. 4 and 5. 
(Compare above, Passion Sunday, p. 294 sqq.) It is a celebration 
by the High Priest — Christ Jesus Himself. The Church dispenses 
with the sacrifice of the mass, because Christ Himself ofTers the 
bloody sacrifice of the cross on this day. The missa praesanctifica- 
torum is a memorial service of the Passion of Christ (offering, respec- 
tively, the presentation of the sacred Host already consecrated) — a 
celebration of the fruits and the effects of the sacrifice of the cross 
(Pater noster) — and finally the enjoyment of these fruits (the 
communion of the celebrant, formerly also partly of the people). 
According to the Roman rite the church is now desolate, the taber- 
nacle is opened; the Bridegroom — Christ Jesus — is removed. The 
cross alone appears amidst the splendor of lights, and invites the 
people, with all its eloquence, to the celebration of the Passion. 

7. The post-celebration of the Passion of Christ: the burial of 
Christ. This is a specifically German rite. In earlier times (dur- 
ing the middle ages) the place, where the sacred species for the 
communion of the sick were reserved, was called "sepulcher" — 
and also the place where the cross was placed for veneration. Out 
of this representations of sepulchers and Passion-pictures grew. A 
sort of entombment was found as early as the tenth century. In 
the sixteenth century there were added to this the expositions of the 
Blessed Sacrament in the ciborium and in the veiled and unveiled 
monstrances. 

The present representations of the sepulcher, with Eucharistic 
exposition, are praeter rubricas, but not contra rubricas, provided they 
do not disturb the main service and conceal from the eyes of the people 
the liturgy of Good Friday, which would be a scandal and nonsense. 
They afford the Christian people an opportunity to celebrate Good 
Friday in an all around and extensive manner. Even the corpse of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 385 



Christ, resting in the sepulcher, was united with the divinity. 
Adoration, therefore, before the sepulcher is eminently proper. 
Thus a veiled exposition on the altar of the sepulcher is not dogmati- 
cally contradictory. And we consider the approaching crowds of the 
people to the holy sepulcher as a further fulfilment of the invita- 
tion of the lesson of Good Friday (III nocturn, lesson VIII and 
sqq.) : adeamus igitur cum fiducia ad ihronum gratiae, ut miseri- 
cordiam consequamur et gratiam inveniamus in auxilio opportuno. 
Et consummatus (Christus) factus est omnibus obtemperantibus sibi 
causa salutis aeternae appellatus a Deo Pontifix secundum ordinem 
Melchisedech. If the Blessed Sacrament is also exposed in the 
sepulcher on Holy Saturday, this should be done, of course, only 
after the principal service, since otherwise the idea of the principal 
service would be disturbed. An ancient and significant custom, like 
these devotions of the sepulcher, the individual pastor should never 
abrogate : the bishop of the diocese has, of course, the right to insti- 
tute the purely Roman rite. (Compare the rituals of dioceses.) 

Sermons for Good Friday. Through our former expositions of sermons 
on the Passion of Christ (see p. 321 sqq.) for Passion Sunday (§ 30 p. 
294 sqq.), and also through the above liturgic-homiletic development 
of the central thought of the liturgy of Good Friday, we have given, from 
every view-point, stimulations for selections of material for exegetic, 
dogmatic, ascetic, liturgic-dogmatic, and liturgic-ascetic sermons for the 
forenoon and evening of Good Friday — a selection of sketches of a limited 
sphere of thoughts and also as a climax of well-considered scenes of the 
Passion of Christ and its liturgical celebration. The above developed 
liturgic-homiletic thoughts may, with a wise limitation, be presented 
to the people in one grand picture, or in Lenten cycles, and divided into 
various years of sermons for Good Friday, and developed according to their 
individual points as independent sermons. Many of the points treated 
are rich enough for special sermons. Thus also homiletic connections 
of logically selected points of moment are well adapted for themes. 

§ 42. Holy Saturday 

The quiet Sabbath and the celebration of the eve of the resurrection 
1. The quiet Sabbath. Originally Holy Saturday, though a 
solemn feast, was still an aliturgical day, the quiet day of the rest 
of our Lord in the sepulcher. Only the catechumens held then- 
last meeting of preparation. Upon this concept compare the touch- 
ing meditation in Melcher's Life of Jesus: The great Sabbath, II, 
p. 427, according to Matt. 27: 62; Luke 23: 56, and Mark 16: 1: "a 



386 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



day of quietude, of sorrow, and of hope." Its character Is like a twi- 
light and an intermingling of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. 

This character is entirely borne by the grand Matutinum tene- 
brarum, which contains the most fruitful thoughts for evening ser- 
mons on Good Friday and for the devotions at the Holy Sepulcher, 
especially in the antiphons and in the lessons: in pace in idipsum 
dormiam et requiescam! Caro mea requiescet in spe! Throughout the 
lauds there sounds, as from a distant mysterious thunder, a sup- 
pressed Easter cry of victory, which, however, is again buried 
beneath sorrow. O mors, ero mors tua! M or sus tuus ero infer ne! — 
cries the antiphon, sure of victory, in the first psalm of lauds, but 
the last one for the Benedictus sinks again fully and entirely, at 
the extinguishing of the candles, back into the sorrow of the grave: 
Midieres sedentes ad monumentum lamentabantur, flentes Dominum. 
(Compare the Acts of the Apostles, c. 25-26.) 

2. The eve of the resurrection. The present forenoon service of 
Holy Saturday is like an island of jubilation in the midst of an 
ocean of lamentation. Formerly it was the divine service of the 
great Easter night. 

As Jerusalem is the birthplace of the liturgy of Good Friday, so is 
the Lateran at Rome, "the mother of all churches," the birthplace 
of our present, uniquely grand liturgy of Holy Saturday, which 
more than all else bears the impress of primitive Christianity. 

It is of a vast import to the liturgist and to the homilist to be 
thoroughly acquainted with the history of this liturgy. On this 
basis, above all, does the present liturgy of Holy Saturday become 
one of the richest sources for the Easter preacher. 

We will first give a complete picture, taken from P. Grisar's 
History of Rome, and resting upon the most exact and most recent 
studies of the great night in the Lateran, in order afterwards to 
paint, as briefly as possible, a complete picture of the extent of the 
ideas of the liturgy of our times. Then we shall have solved, in 
the two following paragraphs, a part of our homiletic Easter task in 
advance. 

§43. The Great Night in the Lateran 
(From and according to Grisar's History of Rome and of the Popes.) 1 

I. The place of celebration. 1. Let us first enter the place of celebra- 
tion. At the time of Constantine there was not in the vicinity of the 

I I, n. 515 sqq., p. 774, n. 518 sqq., p. 779 and espec. n. 531, sqq. p. 800 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 387 



Lateran, the papal residence and the mother of all churches, that deep 
stillness which surrounds this memorable place today. A solemn and 
lively place surrounded the sanctuary. During antiquity the basilica had, 
as now, two entrances, one on the right side for those coming from the 
city, and a main entrance on the eastern front side. The apsis of the 
church opened then, as it does now, toward the east, so that the cele- 
brating Pope turned toward the people according to the ancient rite, and 
looked toward the rising sun. In the front you ascended a broad stair- 
way, filled already then, as now, with the poor, and entered a great 
atrium (which has disappeared), the place of penance; in the midst 
thereof a mighty fountain bubbled forth into a large basin, in which those 
entering washed their hands. Entrance into the temple was possible 
through five doors. Upon entering the church, you first reached a space 
enclosed by a screen and by curtains. Here were gathered catechumens, 
other classes of penitents, possibly also unbelievers. This inner vestibule 
was called Narthex. After the mass of the catechumens the catechumens 
were obliged to retire into this place, which shut them out from the cele- 
bration of the mass proper. Clerics of minor orders were entrusted with 
a rigorous surveillance of this place. Whoever entered into this five- 
naved basilica, first into the middle nave, found himself in a forest of 
splendid and festive columns. These solemn rows of columns were, 
alas! during the last Renaissance-restoration, enclosed, two and two, in 
twelve massive pillars of the present church: so that the great middle 
space of the church lost its basilican character, while the apsis, really 
considerably widened under Pius IX and Leo XIII, at least still shows 
the ancient grand ornamentation of mosaics. An altare Confessionis 
the Lateran did not possess in ancient times, it was only erected later 
by Sergius II (died 847), and within the same was concealed a 
great wealth of relics. The present high Gothic tabernacle, built of 
columns over the stairway leading to the presbytery, dates from the 
time of Urban V. In ancient times the view of the main altar and of 
the chonca of the apsis was free. The original, precious Constantine 
altar was of an immense richly elaborated silver tabernacle, built of 
columns covered with plastic work, and stood under the triumphal arch 
near the entrance of the apsis. Pope Xystus III and Emperor Valen- 
tianus III renovated it. It was surrounded by golden and silver cande- 
labra. Between the altar and the apsis stood four high Corinthian 
columns of gilded bronze, which are now on the side-altar of the blessed 
Sacrament, erected by Clement VIII, under the so-called table of the 
Last Supper of Christ. From above the altar there beamed brightly 
upon all the people below, in an inspiring manner, a magnificent and 
still existing, but oft repaired mosaic formed on a golden background. 
In this everything else was then, as now, eclipsed by the grand bust of 



388 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Christ, of magnificent beauty. The chonca of the Lateran basilica was, 
no doubt, the first place where the features of the Redeemer of the world, 
as conceived by those days, were represented to Rome, at the time still 
half pagan, in a monumental manner, from the top of the holiest place 
of the building. In the broad rich frame of the mosaic, so rich in figures, 
which group beneath the image of the Saviour around the cross, there 
flows the river of baptism — the Jordan. Genii pour the water from a 
number of shells, and the rivulets are converted into a river. Winged 
little ones are fishing with hooks and nets in the bright waters, they are 
rowing in small canoes and glide over the waters in small sailing crafts 
between swans and fishes, and playing on the banks with flowers and 
birds. In the apsis of the basilica an exit seems to have led to the near 
Cons tan tinean and magnificently planned central building of the baptis- 
tery (baptismal church or chapel) . A true representation, most probably, 
of the ancient general impression of this Lateran basilica at the time of 
the Easter-night celebration, we obtain from a painting in S. Martino 
ai Monti, probably of the years 1640- 1644. At that time this splendid 
temple still retained its basilican character: but in fancy we must 
displace the gothic-column tabernacle and put in its stead, into the span 
of the choir, the ancient splendid altar of Cons tan tine or of Xystus III. 

II. The initiatio Christiana. The reception of converts from pagan- 
ism {initiatio) kept the Church busy during the whole of Lent (see above 
pp. 254 and 282 sqq.). A series of scrutinies, lectures, and examinations 
were carried on through the whole of Lent. Special solemn scrutinies 
we have already considered above (pp. 282 and 290) ; others, especially 
those of the third week, we have at least mentioned. During the 
second part of Lent the preparatory ceremonies of baptism, which today 
are crowded into one action, were gradually performed in behalf of the 
catechumens, the last on Holy Saturday (see Grisar n. 527, p. 794 sqq.; 
compare above, p. 311). 1 After the instructive, moral, and liturgical 
preparation was completed, the reception proper took place: baptism, 
confirmation and Holy Communion in Easter night, which we will give 
here exactly in the words of Grisar's History of Rome and the Popes, 
n. 531 sqq., p. 804. Grisar takes us back to the sixth century when, 
besides the adult catechumens, numerous children were already then 
admitted to baptism. 

III. The fundamental character of the celebration. The solemn 
baptism in Easter night, called "the great night," corresponded very 
harmoniously with the fundamental mystery of religion, the commemo- 
ration of which was celebrated on the same feast. 

1 See in relation to this: St. Augustin, de symbolo ad catechumenos (4) c. 1. ss.; 
Migne Patr. lat. 40, 659. Even today we read passages on the second great day of 
baptism, on the vigil of Pentecost, in the lessons of the second nocturn. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 389 



On the same feast, when the Church intoned the Alleluja, as a joyful 
cry over the resurrection of the Redeemer, and when she rejoiced over 
the promises made her, she wished to make also those who had recently 
entered the Church partake of the regeneration of the spirit and of the 
pledge of eternal happiness. Even to this day the same exalted union 
perseveres in the liturgy of the Church. The joyful alleluja is still intoned, 
as in ancient times, on Holy Saturday, and even today the newly bap- 
tized stand around the altar of the Lateran in Rome and in other cathe- 
drals of the Christian world, whilst the hymn of Easter is sung on the 
greatest feast of the Lord. 

Pentecost alone shared the honor with the Easter celebration as 
another baptismal day. If circumstances required it, for the sick, f.i., 
then the sacrament could, of course, be administered at other times in 
a simple form; but on these days the Pope administered it, or the 
bishops in their own dioceses, with great solemnity. 

Baptism at Easter drew great crowds of people from the entire 
Christian Rome to the Lateran, in which, at the same time, papal Sta- 
tions were celebrated. On no day or night did the Lateran basilica 
contain as many people within its precincts as during the venerable 
performances of the vigil of the baptism and of the liturgy of the mass 
on that celebration. Prudentius, the Christian poet, points out to us 
already in his time "the long line of the faithful who" (as he twits the 
rest of the pagans of that day) "pass the former temples of the gods 
and hasten to the Lateran buildings, in order to receive the sacred sign 
with the royal chrism": By "chrism" he means the sacrament of 
confirmation which, as we shall see, was administered to the converts 
of the faith after they had received baptism. 

Those who were baptized were not only of the Roman and Greek 
race, but often also persons who came from foreign lands: Goths, Lom- 
bards, Franks, and Anglo-Saxons. Not infrequently was their own bap- 
tism postponed in the countries distant from Rome, in order to have the 
happiness of receiving it in Rome at the tombs of the saints under the 
presidency of the successor of the selected fisherman, where as before, 
many postponed their baptism for years in order to receive it in the 
river Jordan. Thus the Anglo-Saxon king Cadwalla was one of the 
noble strangers, who hastened from home to receive baptism in Rome. 
But the mixed crowds of the baptized, who rushed to the Lateran in 
their Roman and Greek costumes and in the many-colored garments of 
the barbarians, in order to exchange there their costumes, after the holy 
functions for the white baptismal robe, were joined by vast numbers of 
their relatives and companions and by a long line of the faithful who 
wished to celebrate the anniversary of their own baptism and the great 



390 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



feast of the Redeemer ; for the whole city celebrated its general baptismal 
feast, as it were, on the feast of the resurrection, and for this they pre- 
pared themselves in common with the catechumens by the fast of the 
Quadragesima. 

It began with a long liturgical assembly on the eve of Saturday, in 
order to end only early in the morning of Easter Sunday. 

IV. The celebration in the Lateran basilica. Amidst the chanting of 
the litany the -clergy and the candidates for baptism entered into the 
basilica with the Pope. A deacon ascended the ambo and began his 
so-called praeconium paschale, the hymn of praise of the Redeemer and 
of the holy supernatural light which He brought into this world of 
darkness and buried in paganism. As early as the sixth century the 
light of Christ was already typified by the paschal candle. Formerly 
the praeconium was a freely delivered or sung text, composed in all 
cases by the deacon. During the progress, and probably toward the 
end of the sixth century, there originated a permanent form in text 
and melody. The venerable Exultet still chanted today, with its deep 
meaning thoughts and impressive antique tonal movements, is vividly 
remembered by every one who has ever heard it. Though its general 
use is only certified to by Gallican manuscripts of the seventh and eighth 
centuries, still it may be traced back in the Roman celebrations to the 
times of Gregory the Great. The oration in use at the blessing of the 
paschal candle in the Gelasianum is most probably also an integral part 
of this sacramentary. 

Besides the paschal candle, however, another candle was blessed, 
and this was lighted from the oil-lamps, which burned since the blessing 
of the holy oils on the previous Holy Thursday, but had been kept 
concealed. The church, filled with people whose candles were all lighted 
at the new flame, began now to gleam through the small flames; it was 
a dramatic introduction of the light brought by Christ into the world, 
and it was the more effective in the resplendent Lateran basilica, since 
the rich marble columns, the walls inlaid with polished stone tablets, 
the gilded ceiling of the place, the golden and silver blessed articles of the 
main altar, and the ornamentations used especially for the days of the 
seven decorated side-altars — all vied with each other in the reflection 
of the bright sheen which filled the entire place. At the soon following 
blessing of the baptismal water, the burning paschal candle was used 
with the other, by dipping them into the water. Thus the symbolical 
significance of the light was carried into the rites of baptism, an example 
of how, in the "great night" especially, the celebration of the Risen 
Christ and of the sacrament of baptism were united in the peculiarities 
of the functions. 

In the meantime, before the blessing of the baptismal water, the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 391 



reading of the so-called prophecies of the New Testament took place, 
as a part of the vigil of the night-watch, which was to be observed by the 
clergy and people as a final preparation for the feast. Such vigils were 
almost everywhere entirely spent in public reading and interspersed with 
chants. The singing was done either by all the people singing, f.i., the 
well-known psalms, which were sung, as a rule, by one chanter, or alter- 
nately with the choir, or partly more artistic and less familiar chants 
were sung alone by ecclesiastical singers of the younger clergy, who 
were placed within the limits of the square of the schola cantorum. 
The number of the lessons was determined by necessity, and changed 
according to the various seasons. 

The lessons of Holy Saturday, even of this day, are composed of the 
ancient customary so-called prophecies which, in the course of time, 
were limited to twelve; and between these are still found the so-called 
tracts which were to be sung by the clerical singers; these were parts of 
the chants which, according to the oldest chorus of the Greek drama, 
were to emphasize more deeply and closely that which was to be ex- 
pressed by the lessons, mostly in repeated and well-selected words of 
Holy Scripture. Such lessons and chants rounded out the vigils with a 
spirit and feeling of stirring material. They were easily understood by 
all, and in Rome they were given, on account of the bi-lingual complex- 
ion of the population, both in Latin and Greek during the Byzantine 
times. 

The lessons were regularly preceded by a cry of the deacon, who 
admonished the people to be attentive. In the Roman scrutiny-ordo 
it is repeatedly marked and reads: " Stand erect, in order and silence," 
or: "Stand in silence and listen attentively." " Stand" was cried not 
without reason. Many, on account of the length of the celebration, and 
since there were no pews, sat upon the marble floor, using for this pur- 
pose a strip of carpet which they brought with them. But the sacred 
lessons were to be devoutly heard, and standing. In the books of the 
Ambrosian rite the cry is indicated before the Gospel: "Be silent." 
The object of this request is disclosed by a passage in the writings of 
St. Ambrose, wherein he says that women should remember that the 
Apostle commands them to be silent in the church; whilst the psalm is 
being sung in general, attention is, of course, paid, he says, for every one 
takes part therein; but whilst the cleric alone reads the lesson they are 
restless and given to talking. Besides, at a celebration like the described 
vigil of the Lateran, many assisted out of mere curiosity. Whoever 
came to Rome for the celebration of the feast of Easter was anxious to 
see, at night, the brightly illuminated papal church and the supreme 
Bishop upon his throne, as the celebrant of the solemnity. 

The lessons of the Old Testament, which were heard during that 



392 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



night in the Lateran, unfolded a great picture of the salutary institutions 
of God since the day on which man came forth from the hands of His 
Creator. 

Many of the lessons were also chosen with special reference to bap- 
tism, at which the regeneration of the children of God took place. Thus 
the history of the saving of Noe in the ark, floating on the waters of the 
deluge; for the ark is the image of the Church into which we enter 
through baptism. Thus, too, the account of the promise made to 
Abraham ready to sacrifice his son Isaac, in which God says: I shall 
multiply thy seed as numerous as the stars in heaven; for the seed, as 
the oration which follows the lesson clearly expresses it, is the numerous 
progeny gained by the regeneration of all the faithful of the world. 
Thus, again, the chapter on the passage of the Israelites through the 
Red Sea; for, according to the oration which follows, God performs the 
same miracle of the salvation of the people and a still greater one through 
the baptismal waters of salvation, through the floods of which He leads 
those called to the eternal land of promise. Thus, finally, the last 
lesson which leads directly to the performance of baptism, with its his- 
tory of the three young men in the fiery furnace of Babylon. The 
courageous confession of the young men ought to inspire the candidates 
of baptism with firm courage and a constant readiness for sacrifice, 
whereby they must adopt the profession of Christ, and the example of 
that higher assistance, which these young men enjoyed, should make 
them realize the protection of which they are assured on the part of the 
mighty and all-bountiful God. 

Among the rest of the lessons is found the prediction of baptism 
by Isaias and the prophetic description of the resurrection by Ezekiel. 
But the chants sound the praise of the spiritual vineyard, of the Church, 
and, in the end also, as a transition to the baptismal ceremony, we have 
the psalm: "As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters: so my 
soul panteth after thee, 0 Lord." (Ps. XLI.) 

V. The celebration in the church of baptism. After this very signifi- 
cant chant, the candidates of baptism, with the Pope and the clergy, 
pass from the basilica to the adjoining Lateran church of baptism. Again 
the litany is heard for the second time in the procession. Two ecclesias- 
tical notaries lead the march, carrying the two large blessed burning 
candles. Incense and the censers follow. It seems that, in the apsis 
of the basilica, there formerly existed an exit to the baptistery built 
behind it, which was entered at its own vestibule. In this case the very 
long rows of catechumens passed the already mentioned mosaic which 
represented the Jordan with its pleasant scenery. 

There were the pictures of spiritual joy of that sacred water which 
was to wash them. There the mystic rivers of Paradise flowed from 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 393 



the hill which carried upon its top the large ornamented cross. But the 
great representations of the Evangelists, with their animal and human 
symbols, which likewise looked down from the height, were calculated 
to recall to mind the solemn introduction of the Gospels which were 
read during the scrutinies. 

The baptismal chapel itself, if we may call the still extant broad and 
exalted circular building a chapel, through its choice equipment, pre- 
sented very eloquently, to the one who entered, thoughts upon baptism. 
On the brink of the round baptismal basin, placed in the middle of that 
space, stood the great silver figures of Christ and of St. John the Baptist, 
and between them the figure of a lamb with the inscription: "Behold 
the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world." Beneath 
the lamb many streams of water fell, arch-like, into the round basin 
below. Three figures of harts sent forth, at the same time through their 
mouths, other streams of water. Steps led down into the water several 
feet deep. The round broad basin, constructed of marble, was enclosed 
by a circle of eight red columns of granite which are admired, even to 
this day, on account of their construction. Xystus III had erected 
them in this form and placed the cupola over them. Around the columns, 
however, there was a roomy circular nave with the oratories of St. John 
the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist on its sides. The cupola, 
which rose just above the straight frieze of the octagonal columns, was 
similar to that of the celebrated circular building of Costanza, and, as in 
the latter church, so likewise was the inner side of the cupola-vault of this 
Lateran baptistery ornamented with mosaics or paintings which referred 
to baptism. But a huge candelabrum arose from the middle of the basin 
toward the cupola and carried (at least at some time) on its top a golden 
vase with balsam oil, in which wicks of mineral flax (asbestos) were 
burnt. These, and many other lights illumined the place at night with 
a brilliancy, and filled it with sweet odor. From the top of the cupola 
a dove of precious metal was suspended, a symbol of the fructifying 
Spirit of God hovering over the waters. The metrical inscription of 
Xystus III, executed in huge letters on the marble frieze above the 
columns, announced, in deeply significant and dogmatically compre- 
hensive language, the effects of baptism and the origin of the sacrament, 
which came forth, as it were, with the water from the wounded side of 
Christ on the cross, and the equality of all men, which embraces the 
"one source, the one spirit, and the one faith" into one close family 
covenant. 1 

1 We will select several of the verses of the inscription of Xystus III, who com- 
pleted the baptismal chapel near the Lateran, as a memorial sign, as it were, of the 
triumph of the doctrine of the Church over the attacks of Pelagius against grace. 
In classical verses the inscriptions recount the original and personal guilt, the sancti- 
fying effects of baptism, of grace, of the Church and her hope of eternal life. "Here 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



VI. The blessing of baptismal water in the baptistery. Whilst those 
assembled gathered around the basin, with burning candles, the Pope 
saluted them with "Dominus vobiscum." With the oremus he invited 
them to a common prayer, and after the oration he began, over the 
basin, the blessing of the water with those preface-like prayers which 
to this day are still used in this blessing. 

He implored God to grant for the regeneration of a new people, 
which was to go forth from the fountain of baptism, the spirit of a divine 
childhood. "He brought back to mind that at the beginning of the 
world the Spirit hovered, in benediction, over the waters. In solemn 
words he pointed to the saving of Noe and to the atoning waters of the 
universal flood, and he implored the grace from above which here, in 
the font of baptism, brings forth children of the Church. In this exalted 
train of thoughts are interwoven, not only the origin of the sacrament 
from the wound of the side of Christ, besides other images painted in 
the inscription of Xystus III, but also the idea of the four rivers of 
Paradise, which water the entire earth," the water which Moses in the 
desert called forth from the rock with his staff, and finally the Jordan 
in which Christ, through His baptism, sanctified the waters of baptism. 
Thus the preceding biblical lessons, the monumental ornamentations of 
the place, and the majestic formulas of prayers coalesce to bring home 
to us, more forcibly, the meaning of the functions. 

At the words of the blessing: "May the power of the Holy Spirit 
descend into the fulness of water," the two candle-bearers dipped them 
into the basin. At the end, however, the Pope poured oil, blessed on the 
previous Holy Thursday, over the water, from a golden vessel, and 
mixed it therewith with his own hands. 

After the blessing had been completed, the hour for baptism had 
arrived. The archdeacon conducted each of the candidates of baptism 
to the Pope, before whom each made a profession of faith again, by 
briefly answering some questions. 

The candidates then descended, scantily dressed, into the baptismal 
water. The very ancient triple immersion was not literally observed, 
but only in so far that to the standing in the water there was added a 
triple pouring over or sprinkling on the head and the body rays of water; 

the birth of a saintly generation from an exalted seed takes place; the Spirit of God 
fructifies the waters and is Himself the generator." "Those born in the newness of 
life are not separated by a partition wall: They are made one by the one fountain, 
the one spirit, and the one faith." "If you desire to be clean bathe yourself in this 
bath. Neither paternal (original) nor personal guilt will oppress you in the future. 
Here is the fountain of the waters of life, which takes away the sins of the entire world: 
its source comes from the wounded side of the dying Redeemer." This dogmatic- 
poetic inscription still looks down from the octagon of the marble entablature over 
the baptismal basin. (See Grisar, G. R. u. d. P. B. I. n. 220, p. 290.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



395 



it was immersion combined with infusion, or, rather, aspersion. But 
the priests and the deacons and the rest of the clerics, who assisted in 
the administration, stood in the water. This was done in the case of 
each one whilst the formula: "I baptize thee in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost — " was being pronounced. The 
sponsors grasped the hands of the candidate just as he was leaving the 
water, and thus lifted him out of baptism by placing him under their 
protection. They attended to his wiping off by prepared linen cloths, 
and presented him to a priest who signed him with the sign of the cross 
made with sweet scented oil (chrisma) on the forehead. The priest 
recited, in the formula accompanying this action, the words: "May 
Christ, Who regenerated thee by water and the Holy Ghost, anoint thee 
with the chrism of salvation unto life everlasting." 

It need scarcely be mentioned here that during the whole perform- 
ance great care was taken to preserve propriety and strict discipline. 
The women were served by matrons. Besides, those ancient times were 
not as sensitive, nor finical, in consequence of common customs, nor 
as susceptible to evil influences as later generations. 

After this the baptized donned white vestments, expressive of the 
purity conferred by baptism. Of these white vestments, of the newly 
baptized or the neophytes, Pope Gregory the Great speaks in various 
passages and in such a manner that it may be readily concluded that 
he speaks to adults, or, at least, not to newly born children. 

In robing the baptized, a white linen cloth was wound around the 
head. He wore it as an ornament of a priestly crown. Thus, at least, 
was this band interpreted in the days of John the Deacon, though it 
seemed to have received its simple origin in the custom of keeping the 
parts of the head, moistened by chrism, covered. 

VII. Confirmation in the chapel of baptism. Confirmation, ordi- 
narily administered after baptism, was administered since the days of 
Pope Hilary in the oratory of the Holy Cross erected by him. 

Before this time the side space of the ancient vestibule of the bap- 
tistery was most probably used, where unto this day the apsis-shell, 
ornamented with the representation of the vine of Christ, is still visible. 
The mosaic with its classical garlands dates back, most probably, before 
the days of Hilary. Betwixt lightly-swinging vine-branches appear a 
number of crosses. Since the candidates of confirmation were signed, 
according to the formula, with the sign of the cross of Christ, it is evident 
that these crosses in this place were an expression of the sacrament. 

The above mentioned building, dedicated to the Holy Cross, was 
evidently, on account of its large room, more suitable. Thither the 
crowds of the baptized marched through the door opposite the vestibule 
of the baptistery, i.e., through the present entrance to the building. 



396 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



They entered into the former open portico, which connected the chapel 
of the Holy Cross with the baptistery. The night was already far 
advanced — and just fancy the sight which those clad in white, between 
the number of lights and under the glimmering stars of the nocturnal 
heavens, presented, as they proceeded, in pious emotion, and accom- 
panied by the people chanting psalms, amidst the antique halls of 
columns with their walls and gardens. 

They stood in two rows before the papal throne, precisely in the 
same order in which their names were originally enrolled. The latter 
circumstance was always emphasized by the ordo in a careful manner, 
for no one should dare approach unproven. The Pope, with hands 
outstretched over them, recited the invocation of the Holy Ghost, that 
He might pour down upon these regenerated His sevenfold gifts of 
graces, he prayed, and " signed them unto life with the sign of the cross 
of Christ." (Consignare, sact -amentum consignations. ) Then, with the 
thumb dipped into the chrism, he made the sign of the cross upon the 
forehead of each whilst pronouncing the formula of the sacrament. 
The sacred function was concluded by giving the salutation of 
peace. 

VIII. The procession to the celebration of the mass in the Later an. 

Now the Holy Sacrifice of the mass could begin. 

The procession now wended its way back into the basilica whilst 
the litany, sung by the chanters, resounded therein. This litany alone, 
of the three litanies of the ancient rite, is still in use today. The choir 
of singers had remained in the church and had already begun the chant 
during the long pause in the basilica. It repeated the invocation, at 
first seven times, then five times, and finally three times, with some 
interruptions. Toward the end of the triple invocation the Pope ap- 
peared with his retinue, and cast himself on his face before the altar. 
After he had risen he intoned the Gloria in excelsis, and then continued 
the mass. This was the first liturgical sacrifice which the newly bap- 
tized were permitted to attend with the rest of the faithful. The re- 
spective formula, still in use today, shows that it is the mass proper 
for the celebration of Easter. Therefore, after the Epistle, the triple 
alleluja resounded, as the announcement of the victory of the Saviour 
over death. In the hanc igitur, however, mention was especially again 
made of the neophytes by the celebrant. 

At the end they partook of the sacred Body of Christ. Even the 
baptized small children received this sacrament, wherefore, as is espe- 
cially mentioned in the seventh ordo, they were not to be suckled after 
baptism. There had already existed for a long time the prescription to 
receive Holy Communion fasting. 

Before the end of the canon the Pope blessed a mixture of milk and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



honey and water, which was poured into the chalice of the mass after 
communion, as John the Deacon relates, and was given to the neophytes 
as a drink, evidently in the form of an ablution. According to the same 
authority it was to typify that the baptized were led into the true land 
of promise, flowing with milk and honey: and since the neophytes now 
enter upon the pilgrimage through this land, they are, he says, the little 
ones to whom milk and honey is certainly due. 

IX. Easter and its octave. On the returning home of the faithful 
and their new brethren the morning of Easter Sunday had already 
dawned. For this reason a new celebration of the Holy Mass did not 
take place in the Lateran, but instead thereof, the liturgical services 
took place in the second papal cathedral, in St. Mary Major. 

But the neophytes had to assemble in the afternoon in the Lateran 
again for the solemn vespers in the presence of the Pope. After the 
magnificat and the final oration they marched, amidst joyful Latin and 
Greek chants, from the basilica to the baptismal chapel where they 
halted, and from this on to the oratory of the Holy Cross. We still 
possess the liturgical orations which were recited by the Pope at these 
small Stations. But not merely on Easter Sunday, but daily during 
the following week, the newly baptized visited, in this manner, the holy 
places so dear to them, where they had been regenerated and signed with 
the sign of the cross as soldiers of Christ. It was a continued wholesome 
renewal of the first impressions made by the mysteries. Besides this, 
the neophytes daily took part during the week in the papal celebration, 
of the masses which, in the form of proper Stations, were celebrated, 
each time, in a different church of the city. They retained their white 
robes during these eight days until the so-called " White" Sunday (Low 
Sunday) inclusively, the name of which — Dominica in albis — is con- 
nected with the described custom. The rare and edifying procession 
of the candidates, accompanied by hosts of the rest of the faithful, gave 
expression to the idea that the whole Christian city, as mentioned above, 
celebrated its general baptismal feast. 

On Easter Monday the Pope went to St. Peter's, accompanied by 
the neophytes; for the church of the prince of the Apostles and the shep- 
herd — Peter — merited this first distinction, the first visit of the lambs. 
In the oration of the mass, contained in the Gelasianum for this day, 
as a proof of this visit, there is contained an invocation of the prince of 
the Apostles. Tuesday was devoted to an assembly in St. Paul's. It 
is a remarkable fact that, even in the missal of today, the Epistle of 
Monday's mass contains an announcement of the resurrection of Christ 
by St. Peter and that of Tuesday by St. Paul, therefore of each in his 
own church; the present missal indicates the ancient stations in their 
original order. 



398 HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



On Wednesday there was a station at St. Laurence' church, outside 
of the walls. Thus the saint who is third in rank in the Roman rite 
is also honored. The Gospel mentions the rich draught of hshes and 
the feeding of the seven disciples with fish and bread, doubtlessly in 
reference to the gaining of the neophytes to the faith and to their Holy 
Communion. 

On Thursday the neophytes were assembled for the celebration, 
with the congregation, in the church of the Apostles SS. Philipp and 
James, a church very popular in those days, the Apostoleion of Rome, 
and here the reading of the Epistle, even of today, recalls the baptism of 
the eunuch of the Queen Candace by Philipp. On Friday the stations 
took place, in later days, in St. Maria ad Martyres (the Pantheon), on 
Saturday in the Lateran; but on Sunday, the festive conclusion of the 
Octave, the neophytes were brought back to the heights of the Via 
Aurelia into the basilica of the youthful martyr Pancratius who, as is 
well known, was honored as the preserver of oaths. The mass began, 
as it does still, with the words taken from the first letter of Peter : As 
new-born babes desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you 
may grow unto salvation. (I Pet. 11:2.) 

After a year had elapsed the neophytes celebrated a special feast, 
the Pascha annotinum, for a revival of graces received. Besides, gifts, 
fraught with great meaning, were given as souvenirs, and these served 
to recall the memory of this day from most ancient Christian times. 
The exquisitely wrought lamps of Florence, with the bark of the Church 
and the inscription: "The Lord gave the law to Valerius Severus, may 
Eutrobius live!" are evidently a memorial of the "giving" of the law to 
Valerius and of his reception into the Church by baptism. And if we 
meet, at times, on early Christian golden goblets, a representation of 
Christ giving the law to St. Peter, it is no doubt, also, an indication of 
their being baptismal memorials, especially since such goblets were 
frequently given as presents, especially those which contained, in their 
inscription, congratulations to some particular person. Many objects 
also of domestic and Christian use were decorated with representations 
which had special reference to baptism. The ancient Christian spoon 
of Aquileja, which contained the shape of a dove representing the Holy 
Ghost descending upon the candidate of baptism, standing naked in the 
basin, is of this a very expressive example. This, at the close of the an- 
cient world, was the induction of the new members into the halls of the 
Church, as it was celebrated in Rome. It was the most beautiful triumph 
of Rome, of its bishop and clergy, when the circle of the adherents of 
the faith became widened by new hosts at these deeply significant and 
expressive ceremonies. It was not a matter of new conquests or of a 
commanding position of the Church of Rome, but of the expansion of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the Kingdom of Christ. The most proper field for the activity of her 
bishop was ever the gaining over of those outside of the Church to the 
world-embracing family of the Redeemer, which acknowledges Christ 
its head. 

§ 44. The Easter Celebration on Holy Saturday 

" Lumen Christi — Deo Gr alias" 

Historical investigation has proven beyond a doubt that our 
present celebration of Holy Saturday is an Easter solemnity and 
that therefore the preacher of Easter will justly find in it a rich 
source for his Easter thoughts. We will here give a development 
of these thoughts for our own times, in as far as they are not already 
contained in the above historical presentations. 

The night service of Holy Saturday always maintains, even for 
our modern times, a grand signification. The preacher on Easter 
and the pastor of souls, who is preparing the first communicants, 
may readily make one or the other selection of the following trend 
of thoughts, especially for a practical application of the paschal 
mysteries to the life of faith and of morals and to the sacramental 
life of our Christians and first communicants. At the same time 
we would like to induce the homilist to make a more exact and 
personal study of the more abundant formularies. 

I. The new fire. The paschal fire, newly struck and gleefully 
set ablaze and flaring up from flint, is a symbol of the resurrection 
of Christ and likewise the first Easter greeting of the Church. 

(a) Christ rising is the corner-stone {lapis angularis — oration at 
the blessing of the fire) of faith and of the life of faith. 

(b) Christ the corner-stone, brings new fire to the faithful : Deus 
qui per Filium tuum angularem scilicet lapidem claritatis tuae ignem 
fidelibus contulisti. 

(c) The fire of Christ is His divinity, which effects His resurrec- 
tion and glorifies His humanity. The risen Christ brings us divine 
fire and divine light: ignem veni mittere in ten am et quid volo nisi 
ut accendatur. (Second oration and Luke, 12: 49.) 

id) The fire of the Christians is, above all, a new zeal for the super- 
natural divine life, a new zeal, which will drag them from error and 
from sin and from the careless everyday life: concede nos per haec 
festa paschalia coelestibus desideriis infiammari (Oratio). 

The resurrection of Christ is the greatest act known in the his- 
tory of the world, the most powerful Sursum Corda that ever re- 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



sounded around the world. The flames that rise toward heaven 
are His symbol: Come forth — from the turmoil of everyday life! 
You must take your position in regard to the resurrection of Christ 
in thought and in life. The new fire will furnish for the preacher 
a most suitable image of the first application of the solemnly an- 
nounced and depicted fact of the resurrection of Christ. (See 
below, Easter Sunday.) The religion of Christ risen is the spark 
of fire which was struck from the corner-stone — Christ, and which 
will never be extinguished (see the other orations at the blessing of 
fire). The new Easter zeal, which will drag us from a common- 
place life, should ascend like a new fire and newly blessed incense. 
Quae sursum sunt quaerite, non quae super ten am. (EP.) The 
liturgy emphasizes this idea. 

II. The new light. The risen Christ manifests Himself as a 
light, as truth. The new light obtained from the paschal fire is 
carried into the dark halls of the church (the world), devoid of all 
light. The three candles on the triangular candlestick of reed, 
carried by the deacon, are gradually lighted with the greatest ven- 
eration. The light of the Most Blessed Trinity, the light of truth, 
of faith, begins to illumine the world through the resurrection of 
Christ: If Christ be not risen, our faith is vain. (I Cor. 15: 17 
sqq.) Nunc autem Christus resurrexit! (15:20.) Therefore, the cry 
becomes louder and louder: Lumen Christi: Deo Gratias! For a 
sermon on the Risen Christ there in no more proper picture than this. 
The truths of the Risen Christ grow constantly wider throughout 
the world, and are spread among humanity and shine more richly 
and deeper in the souls of men. 

(a) Christ is God and therefore the light. His triumphant proofs 
of the divinity are now perfected, through the resurrection : haec est 
victoria, quae vincit mundum — fides nostra. Quis est qui vincit mun- 
dum nisi qui credit quoniam Jesus est Filius Dei, I. John 5: 4 and 5. 
(p. 422 sqq.) 

(b) Christ is therefore the truth, in the full sense — the light. He 
possesses all truth. He knows all truth. He is the truth. He 
brings and reveals all religious truth. He brings divine, super- 
natural truth, which flesh and blood, i.e., the mind of man, can never 
divine, never discover, never evolve. The light which He permitted 
to shine during His life is now splendidly confirmed as divine 
through the resurrection. How gloriously were the words, addressed 
by Christ to Pilate, fulfilled: {Ergo rex tu es? — Respondit Jesus:) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Tu dicis, quia Rex sum Ego. Ego in hoc nalus sum et ad hoc veni in 
mundum ut testimonium perhibeam veritati; omnis qui est ex veritate 
audit vocem meam (John 18:37). Now that doubting question 
of Pilate is judged: Quid est Veritas? (Compare herewith Het- 
tinger, Apol. I. B. I. Lecture.) All the rays of the light which the 
teacher, Christ Jesus, diffused in time: on the one God and the 
one end, the one light, faith, and the one great power — grace, 
the one terrible misery — sin, and the one salvation in His kingdom 
and His Church — all this is now finally and splendidly and tri- 
umphantly confirmed by the resurrection. See in reference to the 
splendid biblical picture of the light: f.i., Meschler's Life of Jesus, 
vol. I, introduction: "I am the light of the world," pp. 3 and 4, also 
the chapter on the activity of Christ, vol. II, p. 201. (Review.) 
See also above, pp. 13-27: Christus est prima Veritas in cognoscendo 
et dicendo. 

(c) Christ is the truth for our sake : the light of the world, the 
fire of light : ad hoc veni in mundum ut testimonium perhibeam veritati. 
He is thus 

(a) Auctor fidei: The origin and the deliverer of our faith : quae- 
cunque audivi a Patre, nota vobis feci (John 15: 15). He delivers to 
us the whole contents of faith, all its mysteries. To those unknown, 
those who stand around the streets, one does not reveal mysteries. 
Because Christ makes known to us His mysteries, which we cannot 
penetrate, therefore we are not His servants, but His friends: 
Jam non dicam vos servos, quia servus nescit quid faciat dominus ejus. 
Vos autem dixi amicos quia quaecumque audivi a Patre meo nota feci 
vobis. John 15: 15. He is also 

(y8) motor fidei: The mover, the motive of our faith. He, the 
Risen Christ, is the auctoritas Dei revelantis, qui nec falli nec fallere 
potest. (See above, p. 232 sqq. The offering of the gold of faith.) 
Non credimus propter intrisecam rerum veritatem naturali rationis 
lumine perspectam (Vaticanum Sess. Ill, c. 3), sed propter auctori- 
tatem ipsius Dei revelantis (Christi, qui resurrexit a mortuis) qui nec 
falli nec fallere potest. See also John 4: 42. The Son of God moves 
men to faith immediately: scio, cui credidi. And as the deacon 
today carries the pure light into the dark hall of the temple, so 
Christ is : 

(y) Creator regulae fidei, the creator and founder of the light- 
bearer: the Church. He has made the teaching office of the Church, 
the light-bearer, the rule of faith, inasmuch as she herself tells us 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



directly what belongs to the truth of Christ, to the deposit of faith. 
Whatever the light-bearer represents and proposes to us as the 
light of Christ, as the light of the Most Blessed Trinity, we accept 
on account of Christ : propter auctoritatem ipsius Dei Filii revelantis, 
qui nec falli nec fallere potest. Lumen Christi: Deo Gratias — our 
own century cries out with the newly baptized and the Christians 
of ancient times (pp. 585, 587). 

This magnificent trend of thoughts of the liturgy is, however, 
much emphasized from another view. The light is now carried to 
the blessing of the paschal candle. Its pure white wax is a symbol 
of the purest virginal birth of the humanity of Christ. The lighting 
of the candle signifies the resurrection of Christ, the inserted and 
blessed grains of incense typify Christ's glorified wounds. The 
paschal candle announces the entire glorification of Christ so pleas- 
ing and so honoring to God. The Exultet (Praeconium Paschale) 
sings and describes the Lumen Christi — Deo Gratias, developed in 
all its glory. 

The Exultet itself furnishes a great quantity of splendid ideas 
to the preacher for an emphasis of the great thoughts unfolded. 
The paschal night, with the morning of the resurrection, is a new 
exodus from Egypt, a new passage through the Red Sea with the 
light of Christ, with Christ — the Victor. Christ risen is the morn- 
ing star, which knows no setting: Me inquam lucifer, qui nescit 
occasum, ille qui regressus ah inferis, toto coelo serenus illuxit. Here 
we are justly reminded of the light-gleaming Lateran of ancient 
times and of that ineffable Easter joy of the great holy night, when 
even to this day the deacon sings : Laetetur et mater Ecclesia, tantis 
illuminata fulgoribus: et magnis populorum vocibus haec aula resultet. 
Such rays of light and of joy the present day preacher must also 
diffuse among the masses of the people, who listen attentively to 
his words on Easter Sunday. To the new light and fire the Church 
brings a new life. (See also below: History of Easter.) 

III. New life. The Christ risen is not only light, He is also 
life and brings life: new, supernatural life, merited by Him on the 
cross, sealed by the resurrection and administered by the living 
waters of baptism to all men of all times. All other sacraments 
confer this life likewise, either to the dead, or, in a richer fulness, to 
those already living. The liturgy leads to the grandest celebration 
of the supernatural, to the blessing of the baptismal water and to 
solemn baptism. The liturgy, therefore, reminds the preacher on 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Easter (and Pentecost) of the immeasurable significance of bap- 
tism and of supernatural life. This may all be likewise applied to 
confession and to communion, and thus be interwoven into the 
paschal sermons as practical applications. (See above sermons on 
confession, p. 308 ff .) We would advise the homilist to read 
c. 3 and 4 of the Gospel of St. John, in which the ideas of "the new 
second life" (c. 3), from the new living water (c. 4), are developed 
to Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, in an immortal address 
by the Messiah and thus to approach the study of the liturgy of 
Holy Saturday with this gain. (See above, p. 307.) The liturgy of 
the blessing of the baptismal water, however, reveals: 

(A) The pictures of life contained in the twelve prophecies. The 
twelve lessons, or prophecies, are mere types and pictures of paschal 
life, of sanctifying grace, of the effects of baptism (and penance). 

The trend of thoughts may be grouped as follows: They are: 

1. A prototype of baptism. The first four lessons are historical 
prototypes of baptism: 

(a) The creation (lesson 1) typifies the grand and splendid 
regeneration through baptism and the sanctifying Easter grace of 
Christ (sact 'amentum regenerationis) . 

(b) The ark (lesson 2) prophesies the salvation of the faithful 
in the ocean of the world and from sin through the ark of the Church, 
into which we enter through baptism (janua ecclesiae). 

(c) The sacrifice of Abraham, the father of the faithful (les- 
son 3), reminds us that, on the part of God, the foundation of bap- 
tism is the sacrifice of Christ and that, on our part, faith is required 
for baptism, according to the example of Abraham (Heb. 16:17 
sqq.) (sac? -amentum fidei) . 

(d) The passing through the Red Sea (lesson 4) is fulfilled by 
passing through the water of baptism, in which Satan, his army, his 
confederates, and the old man of sin are all buried, from which new 
men pass into the promised land of eternity. (Similar effects re- 
sult from confession (see p. 167 sqq.), compare also the paschal 
hymns on Low Sunday; post transitum maris rubri Christo canamus 
principi; see also the catacombs and the sarcophagi of ancient 
times.) (See I Cor. 10 : 1.) (Sact 'amentum libertatis.) 

The prototypes of baptism are followed in the prophecies by 

2. Prototypes of the grace of baptism. Baptism is 

(a) A covenant with God full of promises (lesson 5, Isa. 54: 55; 
see baptismal vows on Low Sunday). 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(b) A reception of divine wisdom and power: disce ubi sit pru- 
dentia, ubi sit virtus, ubi sit intellectus, ubi sit lumen oculorum et pax. 
Enlightenment of the mind and peace of the heart through the 
religion of Christ, which begins in baptism. (Lesson 6, Baruch, 
3 c.) Baptism effects moreover 

(c) An interior spiritual and glorious resurrection and, at some 
time, the exterior resurrection of the flesh (lesson 7). (The resur- 
rection on the field of corpses, Ezek., c. 37.) 

(d) A cleansing from the mire and the misery of sin and a trans- 
planting into the vineyard of the Lord. (Lesson 8, Isa. 4, with 
tracts and oration: tribue populis tuis, qui et vinearum apud te 
nomine censentur et segetum: ut spinarum et tribulorum squalor e 
resecato, digna efficiantur fruge foecundi.) (See above: Septuagesima 
et Sexagesima, pp. 257, 258.) To the prototype of the baptismal 
graces follow 

3. Prototypes of the conditions of baptism on the part of God 
and of men. These are: 

(a) On the part of God — the bloody sacrifice of the paschal 
Lamb — Christ Jesus, typified by the Jewish paschal lamb (lesson 
9 on the paschal lamb, Exod., c. 12); 

(b) On the part of men before baptism: faith and repentance, 
according to the example of the Ninivites (lesson 10, the repentance 
of Ninive, John. 3) ; 

(c) On the part of men after baptism: 

(a) Fidelity, which stands the rest of trial by fire, divine salva- 
tion and victory obtained in the flames of temptation (lesson 12, 
Dan. 3, the young men in the fiery furnace). 1 

We proceed now to the fountain of life: to the fons aquae vivae 
salientis in vitam aeternam. 

(B) The fountain of life: the baptismal font and its blessing. 
Here we should like to recall once more the general development 
of the ideas : nova vita, aqua viva, fons aquae vivae salientis in vitam 
aeternam — regeneratio ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto — sepelire veterem 
hominem — resurgere cum Christo — in novitate vitae ambulare, by 
John, c. 3, 4, and Rom., c. 6 (see p. 162 sqq.). 

The Church, which always requires new fire and new light and 
new life, proceeds longingly to the baptismal font: sicut cervus dise- 
derat f antes aquarum ita desiderat anima ad Te, Deus. For Easter 

1 See A. Schuech, Pastoralth., Taufwasserweihe (10 ed., p. 895) whom we mostly 
follow in the explanation of the prophecies. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



is the day of resurrection, the day of life and of liberty, of baptism, 
of the sacraments, by which we are made the life and branches of 
the vine — Christ Jesus. 

The blessing of the baptismal water presents, in every line, to 
the homilist, most fruitful thoughts for a description of the paschal 
sacramental life, and of the sacramental duties flowing therefrom. 
Many of these thoughts are likewise connected with the prophecies. 
We will here select, especially, the most solemn ceremony: the triple 
immersion of the lighted paschal candle into the baptismal font, the 
symbol of Christ risen. Grace is a reflection of the divinity of 
Christ, something of the divine within us, as the divinity of Christ 
itself is the doxa, the gloria Patris, the glory of the Father and the 
splendor of His glory. It is not we who begin the Christian life; 
not we who create Christian virtues; not we who first gain them. 
God must sow all within us. Then only our growing, our labor, 
our struggle and battle, and our conquest begin. This we must 
deeply impress upon the mind. 

(a) The lighted paschal candle is immersed. The risen Christ 
with His glorified wounds, the same Christ Who died for us on Good 
Friday, Christ our new light and new life, gives the baptismal water 
power in baptism : Hie est qui baptizat. It is He Who has merited 
for us the source of life and life itself {causa meritorid). The candle 
is immersed thrice and each time deeper — the new life is above all 
a deep penetration of Christ and of His sanctifying grace into our 
being. Then virtue implanted and infused by Him enables us to 
perform Christian supernatural acts. The gifts of the Holy Ghost, 
which He confers upon us at the same time, render this supernatural 
action expansive, ready for battle and ideal. The immeasurable, 
aiding actual graces, finally, animate us every moment, in order that 
we may not fall back into human commonplace trivialities. The 
paschal candle is immersed 

(b) with the words: descendat in hanc plenitudinem fontis 
virtus Spiritus Sancti. The light and the life of Christ, the power 
and the fire of Christ are turned upon us and confer upon us through 
the Holy Ghost Who, as the final fruit of Easter, as the donum Dei, 
the virtus supervenientis Spiritus Sancti, comes from above. (See 
p. 181.) As the merit, so is likewise the distribution of life — super- 
natural. Even after Christ has died for us and is risen from the 
dead, we cannot obtain His life and His grace through our own 
power. (See pp. 495, 497, 501.) The paschal candle is immersed 



4 o6 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(c) by the priest. Christ and the Holy Ghost have established 
the Church. The Risen Christ organized her. The Holy Ghost 
perfects her. This Church directs the ordinary way to the light 
and life of Christ. The paschal candle is immersed 

(d) into the water. God's supernatural will is law. If, for the 
humiliation of proud man, who turned from the Creator to the 
creature, He now connects the new life, by means of an insignificant 
creature, to a few drops of water, who will dare complain against 
God? In His sublime address to Nicodemus, which is all spirit 
and truth, the Son of God combines the conferring of life and light, 
merited by Him and the great supernatural work of the Holy Ghost, 
with the water of baptism. Therefore, the enlightened persons of 
Rome had also to descend into the basin of the baptistery of the 
Lateran. And today parents must bring their children as early as 
possible to the baptismal font. Today every enlightened person 
must also kneel at the confessional if he desires to regain grace, etc. 
(See the doctrine of the strictly prescribed matter and form of 
the sacraments in the light of Easter — compare the preface of the 
blessing of the baptismal water, which gratefully announces the 
will of God. Compare also the hymns of the Passion: et medelam 
ferret inde, hostis unde laeserat, — and also the doctrine on sacra- 
mentals in this paschal light and therewith the texts of the blessing 
of the palms and of the paschal candle.) The supreme point of the 
liturgy is as follows: 

IV. The fulness of the new fire, of the new light, and of the 
new life in Christ and through Christ in us: or the full celebration 
of the resurrection of Christ and of our resurrection in the 
mass of Alleluja. From the longing litany of All Saints and 
the final Kyrie-cries, there arises a deep, humble cry for mercy 
at the beginning of the mass. Then at the gloria an incon- 
ceivable joy over the resurrection breaks forth amidst festive 
chants and peals of the organ and of the bells, a joy so immense 
and so exalted, that its surging billows seem to vie with the rolling 
of the eternal streams of joy: for the feast of Easter and Easter 
grace are the very beginning of heaven within us. After the Epistle 
the solemn alleluja is intoned three times and the choir carries its 
echo into every land, as it were. The Gospel of Matthew, c. 28, 
announces the resurrection of Christ; the Epistle (Col. c. 3) our 
resurrection — consurrexistis cum Christo — quae sursum sunt quae- 
rite — mortui estis (peccato). Vita vestra est abscondita cum Christo 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



in Deo. Cum Christus apparuierit vita vestra (on the day of death 
and of judgment) : tunc et vos apperebitis cum ipso in gloria (see p. 
162). This is the necessary comprehension of the entire liturgy of 
the new fire, light, and life here below and there above through 
Christ. — And as a pledge Christ Himself descends : The celebra- 
tion of mass and Holy Communion again take place. And after the 
celebrant has received the glorified Christ — the Vesper joy unites 
with the paschal jubilation of Holy Communion : and the psalm of 
jubilation: Laudate and the Magnificat roar like volumes of joy 
around the victorious paschal Lamb: fluminis impetus laetificat 
civitatem Dei. New fire, new light, and new life — all have received 
from Christ and through Christ; they have carried it concealed 
within themselves, for all eternity. In the meantime it had become 
Easter morning. Never was there such a solemn dismissal of the 
assembly as on this morning, when untold hosts poured out of the 
doors of the Lateran basilica into the dawn of the day which the 
Lord hath made. And today even, an echo of those days resounds 
from Holy Saturday to Easter Saturday: ite missa est: alleluja, 
alleluja! — Deo gratias! Alleluja, alleluja! 

We remind the preacher on Easter once more of the liturgy of 
Holy Saturday as a first source of Easter sermons. The funda- 
mental thoughts — new fire, new light, and new life — and also a rich 
abundance of special thoughts — present grateful material for 
years to come. 

§ 45. Easter 

The History of Easter 

1. Sunday as an Easter celebration. Easter is the most ancient 
of all the Christian feasts. The oldest traceable celebration of 
Easter is the celebration of Sunday as a weekly celebration of the 
resurrection of Christ and as a day of the eucharistic celebration 
and sermon. In the Acts of the Apostles 7 : 20, we read : Una autem 
Sabbati cum convenuissemus ad frangendum panem, Paulus disputa- 
bat cum eis, profecturus in crastinum protraxitque sermonem usque in 
mediam noctem. In I Cor. 16 : 2 we have again the die una Sabbati or 
the first day of the week, presumably the day of congregating. St. 
John, in the Apocalypse 1 : 10, designates the day of the first vision of 
the secret revelation as the Dies Dominica. The Sabbath, besides 
the Sunday, was at first kept by the Judaic-Christians, but was later 
declared, with the entire law of the old Testament, not binding upon 



4 o8 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the Christians converted from paganism, and later this was extended 
to all Christians in general. The celebration of Sunday grew from 
an ecclesiastical practise to an ecclesiastical precept. And thus the 
formerly still tolerated celebration of the Sabbath gradually dis- 
appeared, as the conviction grew that the lex Veteris Testamenti had 
become a lex mortua and even mortifera. This was the case as soon 
as the converted pagans had become the majority of the members 
of the Church. The lex divina moralis, not suspended, which con- 
tained at one time the law of the Sabbath, was now fulfilled by the 
celebration of the Sunday. The name and the notion of the Sab- 
bath, however, remained venerable unto this very day. Also the 
original great Sabbatarian ideas (pp. 170, 453, 543) were assumed by 
the celebration of the Sunday and emphasized and crowned by the 
festive commemoration of the resurrection of Christ. Thus Sunday 
became the most ancient Easter celebration, traceable to the very times 
of the Apostles. The Fathers of the Church expressly testify that 
"the Apostolic translation of the Sabbath and the celebration of 
Sunday obtained force on account of the resurrection of Christ on 
the first day of the Jewish week. (Letter 15 of Barnabas, Ignatius 
Ant. Magn. 9, Justin. Apol. I, 67.) The remark of Silvia, of the 
year 385, is also interesting: The Gospel of the resurrection of 
Christ is read in Jerusalem every Sunday, after the psalmody of 
Quinquagesima, between Easter and Pentecost, (102, p. 71 cod.; 
ed. Geyer c. 44, 2, Kellner, Heortologie, p. 6). The Sunday ser- 
vice appears divided into two parts in the oldest monuments of 
Church-history, as a nocturnal office with psalms, lessons from the 
Scriptures and prayers, to which, early in the morning, the eucharis- 
tic celebration was joined (see the renowned letter of Pliny, Ep. 10: 
96: ante lucem convenire). The second part was called the oblatio, 
later missa. Prior to this the miss a only meant the dismissal of 
the congregation at the close of the celebration of the holy sacrifice. 
This concept is especially clearly indicated in the report of the 
Peregrinatio Silviae (ed. Gamurrini 99, 68: et facta oblatione fit 
missa 1 ). The celebrations of Easter, of Sunday, and of the Holy 
Eucharist, in connection with the transferred celebration of the 
Sabbath, were therefore most closely combined. 

2. The feast of Easter. The feast of Easter is the oldest of all 
feasts. A very obvious psychological and important fact occa- 
sioned its first celebration. It was the feast above all others which 
1 Kellner, Heortologie, note 2, and p. 64. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



instituted itself (see p. 170). Historically considered, the feast of 
Easter grew, among the Judaic- Christians, more from the soil of the 
Jewish Pascha and among the Pagan- Christians, from the Sunday 
celebration of the resurrection, since the Sunday of the first month 
(March), which presented the greatest probability of being the 
actual day of the anniversary of the resurrection, was most solemnly 
celebrated. 

{a) Probable Apostolic witnesses. From I. Cor. 5:7, 8, Fratres 
. . . expurgata vetus fermentum, ut sitis nova cons per sio, sicut estis 
azymi. Etenim Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Itaque 
epulemur . . . in azymis sinceritatis et veritalis, in connection with 
the idea of the Sunday celebration of the resurrection and of the 
central importance of the feast of the resurrection, I. Cor. 15: 14, it 
might possibly be justly concluded that even the Apostles celebrated 
a Christian feast of Easter in connection with the Jewish Pascha. 

(b) The most ancient Christian witnesses. Testimonies of the 
Apostolic Fathers are wanting. But this is a mere accidence and 
does not serve any further conclusion. The interpolated letter of 
Ignatius to the Philippians, c. 14, mentions Easter, but in a man- 
ner that, of itself, points to a later time. The two Apologias of 
Justin are silent on the question of the Easter celebration. The 
dialogue with Tryphon (c. 40 and no) mentions it. Then follow 
the well-known documents of ecclesiastical history, about the 
paschal quarrels of most ancient times. Polycarp, the Bishop of 
Smyrna, came to Rome under Pope Anicetus (about 157-168), in 
order to harmonize the Antiochean Easter custom with the Roman. 
A union was not effected, but Anicetus permitted the Asiatic bishops 
to celebrate the holy sacrifice solemnly in Rome, therefore retaining 
with Polycarp a perfect ecclesiastical unity. 1 We find a classical 
witness concerning the Easter celebration in Tertullian; though he 
means by Pascha a longer period, wherein the Passion and the resur- 
rection of Christ are celebrated and a fast takes place and baptism 
is administered. He means most probably by Pascha and Holy- 
week and Easter-week, or the Triduum sacrum with Easter-week, 
a time in which, even at that time, each day had a liturgical cele- 
bration — collecta. 2 From this general usage of language were 

1 Hergenroether-Kirsch, Handbuch der allg. Kirchengeschichte, I. p. 224. 

2 Collecta is the solemn assembly of the faithful, gr. synaxis, see II. Paral. 7, 9, 
and Esd. 8: 18. Hieron. In Epist. ad Gal. 3: 6. Joan . . . nihil aliud per singula 
sabbati solebat prof err e collectas nisi hoc : Filioli, diligite alterutrum 1 See the breviary, 
feast of St. John, Apostle, II. Nocturn. 



4io HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



formed the names already mentioned in the history of Good Friday: 
Hacr^a (TTavpa)(rLfxov (Easter of the Cross, Good Friday) and 
Ilacr^a avacrrdaiixov (Easter of the Resurrection, p. 373). 

(c) The determination of the time of Easter: (a) Easter as a fixed 
day. Since Christ suffered, died, and resurrected within the days 
of the Jewish feast of Easter, the memorial day of the Passion and 
the resurrection of the Lord naturally became, in a manner, con- 
nected with the feast of the paschal celebration. It would cer- 
tainly have been most natural to investigate upon what day of 
March or April, in the year of the death of Christ, 783 u. c, the 15th 
of Nisan, the day of the death of the Lord had fallen. 1 On the 9th 
of Nisan, i.e., on the latter part of the evening of the 8th, the Lord 
had arrived in Bethany (p. 348 sqq.). On the 9th, i.e., on the evening 
of the Sabbath, or on the 10th, a Sunday, the palm-procession took 
place. On the nth of Nisan, a Monday, the curse of the fig-tree 
and the second purification of the Temple took place. On the 12 th 
of Nisan, Tuesday, occurred various conversations of the Lord with 
the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the widow's mite was offered, and 
the request of the gentiles to approach Christ was made. 2 On 
Wednesday, the 13th of Nisan, Judas made the bargain to betray 
Christ. The 14th of Nisan of the year of the death of Christ was 
a Thursday and the day of the Last Supper, of the prayer in the 
Garden of Olives, and the day on which Christ was taken prisoner. 
(Compare Ambrose, Ep. 23, Grimm, VI. B. S. 100 sqq.) The 15th 
of Nisan, Friday, was the actual day of the Passion and death of 
Christ. In that year the Jews had transferred the eating of the 
pasch to this day, and to it are referred the words of John 18: 28, 
of the eating of the paschal supper. The Lord most probably 
celebrated the pasch at the legal time on Thursday. (See Belser, 
Einleitung in das N. T., S. 312 and S. IV. Geschichte des Leidens 
Christi, S. 136 sqq., 153 sqq.) The 16th of Nisan, Sabbath, and 
the paschal Sabbath at that, was a day as quiet as the grave. 
The 17th of Nisan, the first day of the week, Sunday, witnessed 
the resurrection of Christ. All these days could be determined, in 
the year of the death of the Lord, by the corresponding days of the 
month of a non-hebraic calendar, of which the solar year was the 
basis. Then, in each year the memorial days would have been 
celebrated just on those days of the months, fixed once and forever, 
on which they occurred in the year of the death of Christ. Thus 
1 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 35 sqq. 2 See above, p. 339 sqq., another conception. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 411 



the week-day would occasionally have changed, but the originally 
selected date of the month would certainly have remained the 
same. But such a calculation and fixing was not adopted in the 
early days. After several decades the calculation had become very 
difficult and almost impossible on account of some circumstances 
which are still to be considered. Nevertheless, the day of the 
death of Christ was celebrated in several churches on March 25, as a 
fixed day. The calculations which were the basis of the selection 
of this day were erroneous. But the practise itself, to celebrate 
Easter upon a fixed day of the month, was one entirely isolated. 1 
(/3) Easter as a movable feast. — A series of reasons argue for 
the celebration of a movable feast. First, and above all, is its 
connection with the Jewish Pascha. Next comes the determina- 
tion to retain Friday and Sunday as memorial days of the death 
and the resurrection of the Lord. The Sunday had already been 
adopted as a liturgical day, and was looked upon as the weekly 
celebration of the resurrection of Christ. Thus it was but natural 
to attach the solemn annual celebration of the resurrection like- 
wise to a Sunday. But against these reasons arose a long series of 
difficulties. 

(aa) The Jewish practise. On a 14th of Nisan, the eve before the 
exodus from Egypt, the Israelites slaughtered the first paschal lamb. 
The destroying Angel passed their homes: this was the transitus 
Domini phase, Hebr., pesach, Aramaic, passah, pascha-passage, the 
sparing, from which the Greek Pascha is derived. Thus, the paschal 
lamb was annually killed and eaten on the 14th of Nisan. From the 
14th of Nisan to the 21st only unleavened bread was eaten: these were 
the days of the unleavened bread. Especially sacred were Nisan 
15. the first and Nisan 21. the last day. They were holy 
days. In the year of the death of Jesus the Jews most probably 
transferred the killing and the eating of the paschal lamb to Nisan 
15. 2 (See, however, p. 410.) Nisan 16. was especially distinguished 
by the offering of the first barley gifts and of a yearling lamb. 
In Palestine the barley generally ripened in the month of March. 
Besides, the Jewish year was a luni-solar year of twelve lunar months, 
each of which began with the new moon. The lunar year is eleven 

1 More recently the day of the death of Christ was fixed upon Friday, April 7, 
783 u. c, the 30th year after Christ. (See above, Good-Friday.) 

2 Other opinions and their reasons see in Besler, Einleitung, i. d. N. T. 312 n. 18 
u. p. 136 sqq., 153 sqq. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and one quarter days shorter than the solar year. This had to be 
equalized in some way, otherwise the ist of Nisan, f.i., the first day 
of the first month, would have occurred in every season of the year 
of any given generation. If, therefore, it appeared as if the end of 
the month Nisan would occur during the vernal equinoxes, then an 
intercalary month, extended at will or by necessity, was inserted 
before Nisan i. The equinox could be controlled, since the sun 
enters on March 20 into the sign of the ram (Aries), and on the 
twenty-third day of the autumnal month into the sign of the scales 
(Libra). But another period still was to be considered. If the 
barley was not ripe on the 16th of Nisan, the calculation for this barley 
offering had to be made accordingly. This was done, f.i., by a 
prolongation of Adar, the last month of the year. The rule was 
that the month was to begin on the day on which the lunar crescent 
appeared in the evening twilight. Moreover, there was another 
rule: the Paschawas to be celebrated at a time when the sun appeared 
in the sign of Aries. But if the vernal equinox occurred after 
the 1 6th of Nisan or still later, then the intercalary system had to 
be made use of. These circumstances, but especially the offering 
of the barley and other liturgical considerations, occasioned a far- 
extended movability of the paschal feast. The respective decisions 
were committed to the Jewish priesthood. Thus, f.i., the Talmud 
has transmitted to us a remarkable writing of Rabbi Gamaliel, the 
teacher of St. Paul, addressed to the Jews of Babylon and of Media: 
"We hereby desire to make it known to you that, since the doves 
are still too tender and the lambs (for the pasch) are still too young, 
and the time for the Abib is not yet arrived, we, in conjunction with 
our colleagues, have considered it necessary to add thirty days to 
the year." 1 These circumstances render the change of a Jewish 
date to the Julian-Roman calendar extremely difficult. 

(J30) The Christian practise. Originally the Christian East fol- 
lowed the Jewish practise entirely. The Judaic- Christians and the 
former proselytes decided in matters of this kind. The calculation 
began with the 14th of Nisan, the day of the paschal lamb. The first 
difficulty arose from the fact that the Christians desired not only to 
celebrate the day of the death of the Lord, the 15th of Nisan, but also 
the day of the resurrection. For this purpose, for the reasons al- 
ready mentioned, the 17th of Nisan was not simply chosen, which 

1 Kellner, Heortologie, p. 34, whose interesting explanations we have mainly 
followed here. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



might occur on different days of the week, but the Sunday after the 
15th Nisan. The oft-recurring translation of the Jewish Easter 
was thus rendered very inconvenient on account of considerations 
of the Old Testament, though these translations, on the other hand, 
effected an equalization of the lunar with the solar year: but they 
were really effected without any particular scientific basis. Still 
the East clung generally to a calculation of Easter which always 
began with the Jewish 14th of Nisan, or celebrated the paschal feast 
itself on the 14th of (ev. 15th) Nisan: thus did the Judaizing Catholic 
Quartodecimans. Yet these Quartodecimans were, in spite of their 
leaning toward the Jews, far from a Jewish celebration with the 
paschal rites. The Eastern practise was traceable to an Apostolic 
tradition, and was, moreover, confirmed by the circumstance that 
in many parts of the East, besides the Julian-Roman calendar, there 
was a Jewish lunar calendar, or one closely related to it. But soon 
there sprang up a heretical quartodeciman party which celebrated 
Easter always on the 14th of Nisan with a paschal lamb: this party 
secretly sought to introduce Judaism in some form, and to declare 
the lex mortua and mortifera veteris testamenti as obligatory. These 
were, in part, Ebionites. 

In the difficulties that thus naturally arose from changing the 
Jewish calendar in the Roman and from liturgical reasoning, other 
important points were taken into account in Rome and in the West 
in the calculation of the paschal feast and cycles and tide. The 1 5th 
of Nisan had to occur always near the first vernal full moon, on that 
nearest the vernal equinox or the full moon occuring therein. Thus 
in Rome and Alexandria the regulations for Easter, still generally 
in existence today, were developed. Easter falls upon the first 
Sunday after the first full moon succeeding the vernal equinox. In 
Rome this term was adhered to ever since the days of Sixtus I, 
and probably earlier, as documentary evidence shows. 

Other differences arose. The Asians celebrated the Last Supper 
and the day of the death of the Lord on the 14th of Nisan, no matter 
on what day of the week it occurred, and likewise the day of the 
resurrection on the 16th, ev. the 1 7th of Nisan. Some also celebrated 
the 14th of Nisan as a day of joy over the redemption. Rome and the 
West, on the contrary, celebrated continually on a Friday and a 
Sunday, even though the former did not fall on the 15th of Nisan. 
In that case the following Friday or Sunday was celebrated. 

The well-known journey of Poly carp, the Bishop of Smyrna, 



4 i4 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

to Rome to see Pope Anicetus, in order to effect a uniformity, has 
already been mentioned; but the ancient custom was retained on 
both sides. 

The attempt and finally the order of Pope Victor to effect a uni- 
formity through various synods, found great applause in the East. 
Pope Victor was disposed to proceed with extreme measures against 
the few who, in spite of all efforts, were opposed to the adoption of 
Sunday as an Easter celebration, but St. Irenaeus succeeded in 
preventing this by recalling the action of Anicetus. 

At the council of Nice, in 325, the Roman custom was prescribed 
for everywhere, after having already been adopted by the greatest 
part of the Church. It was this council which ended likewise the 
strife whether or not Easter could occur before or after the 14th of 
Nisan, and was to be fixed before or after the equinox. The council 
forbade the celebration of Easter with the Jews, and ordered that 
it had to be celebrated always on the Sunday after the 14th of Nisan. 
The 14th of Nisan was always to be fixed after the vernal equinox, so 
that Easter was not to be celebrated twice within the same solar 
year. If the 14th of Nisan fell on a Saturday, then the feast of Easter 
was to follow eight days afterwards. 1 Thus, the above-mentioned 
custom was formed. (See especially Kellner, Heortologie, pp. 
32-36.) 

(y) The name of the feast. The liturgical Greek word: Pascha 
has nothing in common with irdcrxa), to suffer. It is derived from 
the Aramaic form of the Hebraic Pesach — to pass over. In the 
Pentateuch the word Pascha is always taken in its original sense 
of transitus, Phase. In the old Christian times, Pascha and dies 
Paschae mean Good Friday (Ter. de or at., c. 8) as well as Easter 
(de corona, c. 3), and again the entire passing by of the Lord, from 
His death to the resurrection and the salvation which He thereby 
secured. Hereunto the ancient Christian time often connected, 
though etymologically wrong, the isonymic Greek Tracryu — to 
suffer. The original Latin expression is Dominica Resurrectionis 
to which later Pascha was added. The German word, Ostern, is 
the plural form of the old-high German Ostara, Ostra, mdhg. oster; 
plural, Ostarum, Ostern. This German root is also found in the 
root of Oster, 2 and in the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Easter 
(Beda, de temporis ratione, c. 1:5. Migne, Pat., Lat., XC, 357, 

1 Hergenroether-Kirsch, Handb. d. allg. Kircheng., I. B. p. 226. 

2 Compare mdhg. Oster-Osten; Osterreich, Oesterreich, Ostereich. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



see Kirchen-Lexicon : Ostern, B. 9, 11 28) and Ostra, the German 
goddess of liberty. The name was applied to the spiritually super- 
natural feast. 

§ 46. Easter. A Liturgic-Homiletic View 

At last the object of the long serious preparation for Easter is 
arrived. He Who is risen stands before us in all His majesty. 
All the jubilation over the risen Christ, which Holy Saturday had 
already intoned, converges with a mighty pressure, like a great 
stream of immeasurable joy, in the office of Easter and in the Faster 
mass. No day is as great, as significant, and as immeasurable in 
time and eternity as this. The Church expresses the greatness of 
this day in the constantly repeated words: haec est dies, quam 
fecit Dominus, exultemus et laetemur in ea. Even the shortness of 
the office, the omission of the various lessons, of the changing 
chapters and hymns are deep-meaning expressions of Easter joy, 
which on this day knows only the Gospel and the Alleluia of the 
resurrection. During Holy-week a whole series of ornamental 
additions of the office was removed. The liturgy itself appeared 
as a stripped altar. But during Easter-week a whole series of 
these liturgical ornamentations is strikingly removed: instead 
thereof appear the Alleluia and the joyful cry: haec est dies, quam 
fecit Dominus, exultemus et laetemur in ea ! During Easter-week 
the Church does not present any of the heterogeneous and cus- 
tomary lessons of the nocturns. She contents herself with the 
one great Gospel of the Risen Lord. She has not composed any 
hymns for Easter. The whole liturgical celebration is one hymn 
on Christ, in whom now all the divine majesty, which during Lent 
broke through here and there, concentrates itself in the fulness of 
brightest rays. Let us strive first to gain a general view of the 
liturgy. 

I. The office. The (only) nocturn is a song and celebration of 
the victory of the Risen Christ. The lauds are a canticle in honor 
of Him Who is risen (adoration, love, and thanksgiving). 

II. The Mass. In the Mass of Easter we may distinguish the 
following connected principal ideas: 

(a) The Easter cry of Christ: Resurrexi, alleluia. (Introit.) 

(b) The Easter act of Christ (the resurrection of Christ, in 
the Gospel). 

(c) Our own Easter act. (Our resurrection from error and 



416 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



sin to faith and to grace by baptism, through the Easter sacraments, 
and the renovation of our lives. (Epistle, I Cor., c. 5.) 

(d) Our Easter-petition to God: Qui per unigenitum tuum 
nobis aetemitatis aditum reserasti. (See the oration.) 

(e) Our Easter joy: haec est dies, quani fecit Dontinus, exul- 
temus et laetemur in ea. {Graduate and Communio.) 

(/) Our Easter song — the sequence : Victimae paschali laudes. 

Another conception. We may reduce the rich significance of the 
mass to two main ideas: Christ's resurrection and our own. 

(a) Christ's resurrection. Christ announces Himself in His resur- 
rection as 

(a) The Son of God, Who rises through His own power. Resurrexit, 
non est hie: videte locum ubi posuerunt eum. The Gospel announces 
this fact: Christ Himself announces it in the Introit. The Church puts 
the words of Psalm 138 in a proper and deeply significant sensus accom- 
modatus, into the mouth of the risen Christ Who announces His own deed. 
Christ announces Himself solemnly as the victorious Son of God. He 
addresses, as it were, at His resurrection, the Father in Heaven and man 
on earth in the words: resurrexi et adhuc sum tecum, alleluja: I rose up 
(oh God !) and am still with Thee (in spite of the dreadful suffering and 
death, united to Thee, oh God!) Alleluia! Thou hast placed thine 
omnipotent hand upon me: 1 Alleluia. Wonderful is thy wisdom, thy 
divine knowledge, thine intelligence, thy plan and thy designs (in my 
resurrection). Alleluia, alleluia! Lord, Thou hast proved me (in suffer- 
ing and in death). But Thou hast known me (the Son of God and the 
Son of Man). Thou hast known my rest (in the grave) and my resur- 

1 In the Messianic resurrection the " 8o£a" the "Divine glory," the "hand" of 
the Father and of the Son is revealed. The Father raises the Son by His all-power- 
ful hand, that all may believe in Him; this is for Him the greatest testimony of the 
Father. The Son Himself arises, through His own power, because He is God — 
and just through the resurrection the splendid rays of the previously given proofs of 
the divinity are transformed into a full, resplendent sun: Oriens ex alto. (See Acts 
of the Apostles 2: 32; 3: 15; 4: 10; Rom. 4: 24; 6:4; 8: 11; I. Pet. 3: 10; John 
16: 7, 5. Grimm, Zahn, Leben Jesu, VII. B. p. 327, note.) Once upon a time, in 
a glorious series of miracles: Nairn, Genesareth, Gergesa, Jairus, and, on the road to 
the final miracle, in the cure of the woman who had suffered from an issue of blood, 
Christ had gloriously planned and victoriously emphasized that He performs His 
miracles by His own power: "I know that virtue is gone out from me." (Luke 8: 46; 
Mark 5: 31.) Only recently, in the liturgy of Lent, the Church emphasized the 
same, when she celebrated the greatest miracles and proofs of the divinity of Christ, 
in the fourth week of Lent and placed them, as miracles performed by His own power, 
in juxtaposition to those of Elias and of Eliseus, which were wrung, as it were, by 
prayer from God. (See above, p. 282.) This personal power appears at Easter in 
its fullest light. Christ performed the Easter act by His own divine power. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



rection. Glory be to Thee! (Thou hast known the entire immeasurable 
significance and the full meaning of the resurrection effected by Thee 
and by me.) Thus, we may conceive the sensus accommodatus of Psalm 
138 from the spirit of the Psalm itself and from the sacred explanation 
of the Church. This Son of God is honored by angels (Gospel) and by 
men (Gospel), by the world and the universe, even by His enemies. 
For Christ rose as Redeemer and Judge: Terra tremuit et quievit, dum 
resurgeret injudicio Deus, alleluja (offertory, Ps. 75). Even His enemies 
must yield: Quare fremuerunt gentes et populi meditati sunt inania? 
Ego constitutus sum Rex ab eo super Sion montem sanctum ejus . . . 
Dominus dixit ad me: Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te. These words 
of the second Messianic Psalm, which we recite in the paschal nocturn 
of Easter, are fulfilled precisely on this Easter day. The guards at the 
grave flee before the Angel of Easter. They announce the resurrection 
of the Son of God also to His enemies. And all the fury and the planning 
of the enemies of Christ could not, even to this day, remove from the 
earth the Son of God nor faith in Him : Qui habitat in coelis irridebit eos 
et Dominus subsannabit eos. Aye, many of His former enemies became 
His friends, as the antiphon of the second psalm of the office declares: 
Postulavi Patrem, alleluja, dedit mihi gentes, alleluja, in haereditatem, 
alleluja. (Compare also the following paragraph, especially the history 
of Easter.) 

On the basis of these liturgical ideas, the preacher, on Easter Sunday, 
might insert several convincing proofs of the divinity of Christ and, in 
fact, by looking backward upon the life of Jesus and forward into the 
history of the day of the resurrection of Christ (compare § 47), and by 
viewing in the distance the Ecclesiastical history of the future. But 
these convincing arguments should not be presented in a dry manner of 
academic language, nor as if only doubters were present; they should 
appear to the soul of the hearers as mightily arousing and animating 
facts of the Gospel (see §§ 47 and 48) and of history. The proofs and 
the testimonies of the divinity of the Risen Christ might likewise be set 
into a frame of several of the verses of the Psalm : Quare fremuerunt gentes. 
A striking application of faith and the motive of faith [f .i. — Who is it 
that induces us to believe? The Son of God, Christ Jesus: Qui nec falli 
nec fallere potest] or some other convincing central conclusion of the 
entire religious life [f.i.: This Christ is still today the immovable 
foundation of our religion (Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere, 
praeter id, quod positum est, quod est Jesus Christus. I Cor. 3:11)] might 
transform this one point into a complete festive sermon (p. 440 sqq.). 

Christ announces Himself in the resurrection. 

(fi) as the God-Man. As God-Man, Christ the Redeemer is the 
paschal lamb, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. 



418 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The glorified wounds announce: I am He who died on Good Friday. 
Now, I am risen. It is therefore true, an incontestable fact, that Christ, 
as He was God and Man, has destroyed the handwriting of sin that stood 
against us; He annihilated it and nailed it to the cross. Now, on Easter 
the work of the redemption is completed. Now redemption is elevated 
above all doubt. Millions of Christians go forth, therefore, to meet 
their risen Christ: Victimae paschali laudes immolant Christiani. Agnus 
redemit oves. Christus innocens Patri reconciliavit peccatores. Mors 
et vita duello conflixere mirando: dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus. The 
significance of the redeeming God-Man, Who on Easter completed His 
work, once and forever, might be presented in a convincing and over- 
whelming manner by the indicated deeply significant conceptions of 
Christ which are contained in the Sequence. The preacher might here- 
with compare the preface of the cross and of Easter: vere dignum et 
justum est aequum et salutare. Te quidem omni tempore, sed in hoc potis- 
simum gloriosius praedicare, cum Pascha Nostrum immolatum est Christus. 
Ipse enim vere est agnus, qui abstulit peccata mundi. Qui mortem nostram 
moriendo destruxit et vitam resurgendo reparavit. Several of the dogmatic 
thoughts on sacrifice, explained on Passion Sunday, might also be ex- 
plained by the above text in the complete light of Easter (p. 287 sqq., 
pp. 290-297). The sacrifice should be presented as absolutely completed and 
crowned. Now the harvest of the paschal fruits might begin by all 
who co-operate. 

The idea developed under a and /3 might be briefly united under one 
theme, into one Easter sermon with a central application: Faith in the 
Son of God — Gratitude to the Son of God and Man (gratitude both 
in thought and in deed). But we celebrate likewise 

(b) our own resurrection. This is grandly announced by the Epistle. 
(I Cor. 5:7 sqq.) 

(a) expurgate vetus jermentum: purge out the old leaven. The Jews 
were obliged to remove from their homes all the old bread, even to the 
smallest particle, and also the leaven. Only new, pure, and unleavened 
bread was to be used for the celebration of the feast. We also should 
remove all the old bread, the old leaven of sin and its least vestige 
thoroughly from within — in honor of the paschal lamb — Christ Jesus. 
There should remain no more room for sin within us. (Rom. VI.) 
Purge out the old leaven! This is thoroughly done by a good Easter 
confession. The first sermon of the Risen Christ was: Confess your 
sins! (See above, sermons on confession, p. 305 sqq.) The echo of the 
Easter confession or also of the preparation for the Easter confession is 
Easter contrition. It is a splendid task to remove the old leaven, the 
bread of our lives leavened by sin, and to remove it to the last crumb, 
i.e., to conquer and to purge out entirely the principal faults and the very 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 419 



smallest defects of character. A little leaven will soon again corrupt the 
whole mass. (I Cor. 5:6) (Practical individual applications.) And as 
St. Paul, in the above quoted passage, desires a renovation of the whole 
congregation (compare the connection of the Epistle of the feast, c. 5 of 
I Cor.), so also does Christ today — the Risen One — desire a renovation of 
the whole congregation. (Compare the thoughts of Holy Saturday, p. 399 
sqq.) Let every one do his part. But the Apostle continues in the Epistle: 

(/3) ut sitis nova conspersio: That you may be a new paste, a new 
unleavened bread, an immaculate and a new host for Easter. Itaque 
epulemur in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis. And how, pray? The 
unleavened bread are the real, unadulterated principles of faith. 

(aa) in azymis veritatis. Our Easters are feasts of unleavened bread 
of truth. When do we nourish our souls with this pure bread? When 
the principles of truth are our Easter food, and pass into our very flesh 
and blood. We have rendered homage to the risen Son of God and cried 
out to Him: Credo. Now it remains to put this Credo into active life. 
The festive preacher should here descend to individual striking applica- 
tions. The father of a family does this by his example. When the 
young man goes forth into the world, perhaps into a factory or shop 
rilled with scoffers, or into an office of indifferentists, or upon some 
plantation or farm amongst non-Catholics, then the image of the father 
comes before the son. Around him he sees nothing but apostasy from 
Christ and His Church. But in his heart he will say: My father was a 
true man. He kept his place at work and in following his avocation. 
But I saw this true and firm man also kneeling at the confessional and at 
the communion railing. Sunday mass and Sunday sermon were to him 
indispensable food. These reminiscences forcibly impressed upon the 
heart of the son strengthened him, they became his armor. After 
decades of years, the son is nourished by the real, pure Easter bread 
once offered to him by the example of his father: Epulemur in azymis 
veritatis. The preacher should also present the Risen Christ, with His 
principles of faith, to the mother, or to a couple contemplating marriage, 
possibly a mixed marriage, etc. Upon such backgrounds the most 
delicate and yet most important subjects may be treated clearly, strik- 
ingly, and tactfully, often better and more fruitfully than ex professo. 
Besides, on these high feasts all classes, conditions, and catagories of the 
faithful are represented, the lukewarm, the wavering, often even the 
unbelievers. The pastoral care should therefore be at its focal point 
in these festive sermons. There is then an opportunity of touching the 
heart and the central nerves of the congregation. The preacher should 
by no means soar up into the clouds of sublime thoughts: but descend 
to the most striking applications of modern life : Sermo Dei penetrabilior 
omni gladio ancipiti (see above, p. 72, 74, 75, 76 sqq.). 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(y) In azymis sinceritatis . The genuine, unadulterated moral prin- 
ciples of the Christian character are the unleavened bread of sincerity: 
honesty, sincerity, truthfulness. It is Christ that speaks and says: 
Know ye not that I am holy! I am pure and a teacher of sanctity. I 
am pure and cannot tolerate any defilement! You must walk before 
Me in the simplicity of heart and with a correct and pure intention. 
Unrighteousness I cannot permit! — The preacher should describe the 
character of the risen Christ in a few lines and show, in His light, 
the condemnation of dishonesty, of untruthfulness, of hypocrisy, of the 
plotting and doings of envy, of jealousy in the home, in public, and in 
the various professions and the deceitfulness and the cunning of the 
sins of the tongue, and show these from texts of the sermon on the Mount, 
of the Proverbs (consult a concordance) and in sketches from life. No 
long description is necessary in these striking and touching examinations 
of conscience. But everything should be illuminated by the light of 
Easter. (Consult Pesch, der Christ im Weltleben; Pesch, The Religious 
Life: formation of character.) 

All should result finally in a resolution of a decisive and interior 
renovation: in novitate vitae ambulemus (Rom. c. 6; see also: Thoughts 
on Holy Saturday, p. 399 sqq.; also p. 162 sqq.) 

If the preacher desires to describe the image of the Son of God, and, 
especially, of the Son of Man (a, /3), which we have already considered 
in Lent and on Good Friday, in a smaller compass, then a formerly 
conceived sketch of an Easter sermon might well serve as a basis. 

The theme : Our resurrection could also be treated in an independent 
manner, f.i., 

(a) Our spiritual resurrection. 

(a) In azymis veritatis, by the principles of faith. First a short and 
gleefully victorious image of the Risen Christ as Veritas! Ego sum rex: 
ego in hoc natus sum et ad hoc veni in mundum ut testimonium perhibeam 
veritati (John 18: 37). This moral resurrection should also be presented, 
f.i., a a, by faith itself, /3 /3 by the application of principles of faith. 

(/?) In azymis veritatis. The preacher should present the glorious 
character and the noble and divine-human heart of the Risen Christ 
through the above mentioned applications, sub y, p. 420. Consult the 
First Psalm which depicts in the first nocturn the tree of life, as an image 
of the life of Christ and of the Christian. 

(b) Our future resurrection. The homilist should present the resur- 
rection of the flesh in the light of Easter as a perfection and a perpetua- 
tion of the present resurrection, according to I Cor., c. 15. 

The richness of the mysteries of Easter should induce us to 
emphasize several special momentous points, taken from the entire 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



view of the celebration of Easter. The liturgy of Easter and of 
Easter-week treats especially: 

(a) Of the history of Easter, 

(b) Of the mystery of Easter, 

(c) Of the fruits of Easter, for: 
(a) The sacramental life, 

08) The moral life, 

(y) The life striving after perfection. 

(8) The eternal life. 

We shall treat of these various points in a special manner. 

§ 47. The History of the First Easter as Contained in the 
Bible and in Liturgy 

Scimus Christum sur exisse a mortuis verel 

The liturgy of Easter is the foundation of our entire religion. 
It is also, for the same reason, the foundation for the entire mag- 
nificent Easter celebration of the Church. 

The liturgy itself, based upon the account of the Bible and 
complementing the same, points out to us, in a striking illustration, 
the history of the day. The Gospels, however, as authentic 
scriptural sources, are naturally most decisive in the determination 
of the course of the events of the history of the resurrection. 

In the first place, the Church celebrates the resurrection in 
the closed tomb on Holy Saturday (i.e., in the original service of 
Easter night) ; she then develops, in a liturgical manner, the entire 
biblical proof of the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday and 
partly during Easter-week. Here we shall describe very minutely 
the entire course of this grand act of Christ, without which our 
faith would be vain and we would be the most unhappy of men. 
The event of Easter Sunday shows us the victory of Christ in such 
a grand and prolific connection that it presents, both directly and 
indirectly, rich thoughts and much well-prepared matter for Easter 
sermons. Besides this, it is not seldom that we find, even in homi- 
letic works, false presentations of the historical course of this, 
the greatest of all historical events. We shall confine the whole 
into one strictly biblical parallel report, and with a climax that 
fits closely into the more modern Catholic exegesis. 

1. Christ risen announces Himself to the tomb and to death. The 
Bible itself presupposes the resurrection of Christ in the sealed 



422 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

tomb: the witnesses of the risen Christ, which it presents to us 
with an overwhelming objectivity, with a most majestic simplicity 
and with all the sacred charm that constantly surrounds the Mes- 
sianic personality — all point to it with all possible clearness. 

Let us first listen to the liturgy! 0, truly sacred night, which 
alone wert considered worthy to know the time and the hour in which 
Christ arose from the dead. Thus the Church sings in her Prae- 
conium at the blessing of the paschal candle on Holy Saturday. 
Christ is risen in the closed tomb. The stone still conceals the 
glory of the Son of God from the entire world. This is the first 
Easter message of the Church in the liturgy of Holy Saturday. 
In the night of Easter the soul of Christ, accompanied by the souls 
of the forefathers in an uniquely grand procession, went up from 
the closed tomb. In deep poetic lines the Church points out to 
us this Easter morning in the Sunday hyrnns of the lauds of Easter 
time (beginning with Low Sunday) : 

Aurora coelum pur pur at. 
Aether result at laudibus, 
Mundus triumphans jubilat, 
Eorrens avernus in] 'remit. 

The purple lights of the dawn send their greetings from the 
Easter sky. The Easter songs reverberate through the ether, sung 
by the heavenly choirs to whom the approaching resurrection of 
Christ in the tomb was made known. (See also the Exult et of 
Holy Saturday.) The world is shaken by a cry of victory. A 
cry of woe startles the nether world. Humanity is still asleep. 

Rex ille dum fortissimus 
De mortis inferno specu 
Patrum senatum liberum 
Educit ad vita-e jubar. 

From the depths of the nether world and from the realm of death 
an illustrious historical procession of the world ascends — at its 
head is Christ, the powerful King, the Victor over falsehood, sin, 
and death and hell: He leads the venerable senate of the Fathers, 
who longed for the redemption, upwards — from out of the caverns 
of death — ad vitae jubar: to the morning dawn of life. 1 

The soul of Christ appears before the body in the tomb. This 

1 This liturgical view of the procession of the Fathers from limbo, with all its his- 
torical reminiscenses, might supply a Christian poet or a composer of an Easter 
Oratorio with a wealth of material. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



is a moment of infinite importance — of which no human eye may 
be witness — but the senate of the souls of the Fathers ! Through 
the power of the divinity the soul of Christ is united to the body. 
Alleluia — Christ is risen ! There He stands risen, in all the Easter 
glory, in the cave of His own tomb — Victor over death in the 
stronghold of death itself (p. 460). 

Victor triumphat et suo 

Mortem sepulcro funerat. (Hymn.) 

Thus the Living One announces Himself in the realm of the 
dead and to death itself: 0 mors, ero mors tua: morsus tuus ero, 
inferne! (Antiphon of the first psalm of lauds on Holy Saturday) ; 
absorpta est mors in victoria: ubi est, mors, victoria tua, ubi est, mors, 
stimulus tuus? (I Cor. 15: 54, 55.) (See Heb. 2: 14; Osee, 
13, I 4-) 

The Evangelists do not speak expressly of the resurrection of 
Jesus in the closed tomb. But they testify to the resurrection in 
the closed tomb indirectly, as a necessary supposition of their 
accounts of the apparition of the Risen Christ. For the resurrec- 
tion in the tomb, just described, we likewise have the unanimous 
testimony of the Fathers and of the exegetical writers. The testi- 
mony of the most ancient liturgy is likewise an important exegetical 
voice. The just described liturgical picture of the event is set in 
a free form, but completely in a dogmatic-historical frame. The 
opinion that the souls of Limbo accompanied Christ and remained 
in His glorious company in an invisible manner for forty days, on 
the scenes of their former activity upon earth, in order to enter, 
on Ascension-day, with the Risen Saviour into His heavenly glory, 
is, though not an article of faith, still dogmatically correct and in 
full conformity with the plan of the redemption. 

2. Christ risen announces Himself to the world. Christ, the 
victor, triumphs and buries death within its own grave. This is 
the first Easter act of Christ. But it is the mere beginning of His 
victory. Christ now penetrates through the stone of the tomb 
which offers Him, the glorified One, as little resistance as do 
the closed doors through which He entered into the presence of the 
Apostles, as the Gospels narrate: Alleluia to the world and to the 
universe: the victorious King is risen. There seems to resound 
through all regions and aeons : Lumen Christi ! Deo gratias. (Com- 
pare the liturgy of Holy Saturday.) Christ, the Risen King, takes 



424 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



possession of the universe. He announces His victory to the 
universe. (See the second psalm of the nocturn.) 

3. Christ risen announces Himself to His enemies. The report 
of the Bible begins here. The comparison and the placing together 
of these evangelical accounts of the resurrection of Christ is 
one of the most interesting evangelical tasks. 1 The statements of 
the evangelical accounts are arranged as follows: Very soon after 
Christ had gloriously penetrated the stone of the tomb (0 vere 
beata nox, quae sola meruit scire tempus et horam! See the Exultet 
of Holy Saturday) an angel of the Lord descends and peacefully, 
and in a quiet majestic manner, rolls back the stone from the 
entrance to the empty tomb, in order that the resurrection of 
Christ may become known. He seats Himself in a visible form 
upon the stone: "and his countenance was as lightning, and his 
raiment as snow." (Matt. 28: 2, 3, 4, 11-15.) All this took place 
in view of the guards: "the guards were struck with terror, and 
became as dead men." The apparition of the angels in the splen- 
dor of exalted majesty and the empty grave revealed the resurrec- 
tion of Christ to the guards and through them to the enemies of 
Christ. The testimony of the custodians of the grave retains its 
world-historic significance; the tricks of bribery, perpetrated by 
the Pharisees, only place it in a clearer light. Thus Christ an- 
nounces Himself to the enemies: Alleluia! I am risen! Quare 
fremuerunt gentes? Qui habitat in coelis, irredebit eos. . . . Nunc 
reges intelligite: erudimini qui judicatis ten am I (Ps. 2.) 

4. Christ risen announces Himself to His friends. In timely 
proximity, early in the morning, the pious women wend their way 
toward the tomb. (John 20: 1, 2; Luke 24: 1-9; Mark 16: 1-8; 
Matt. 28: 1, 5-8.) They found the tomb empty: Mary Magdalen 
rushes at once to Peter and John to announce to them, in her great 
excitement, that the precious contents are no longer harbored by 
the chamber in the rock. The puzzling announcement produces 
in the Apostles a veritable storm of surmises, fears, and hopes. 
They hasten at once to the grave. In the meantime a grand revela- 
tion takes place in the very tomb of the Lord. The rest of the 
women who tarried entered into the rocky tomb, after Mary Mag- 

1 Consult the last volume of the Leben Jesu of Dr. Grimm, arranged by Dr. J. Zahn, 
p. 312 sqq. Here we recommend to the clergy the entire work most highly. See 
also Meschler, Life of Jesus, Lohman, Das Leb. u. H. Jesu Christi, Evang. Harmonie; 
Dr. Besler, Geschichte d. Leidens u. Sterb. etc., d. Herrn, p. 454 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



dalen had hurried of! to Jerusalem. There two angels appeared 
to them in a visible form and in shining apparel, who announce, for 
the first time, the joyful message: He is risen! (Luke 24:3-9 
gives an extensive account; Mark 16: 5-7, a summary account 
in a brief and cramped form, without any details. See Matt. 
28: 2-7.) The message of the angels contains three parts: the 
fact of the resurrection — the significance of the resurrection in 
the plan of salvation (especially Luke 24: 6 and 7), and the request 
to announce the resurrection to Peter and to the disciples. (Matt. 
28: 7; Mark, 16: 6 7.) As was the birth, so, too, is the resurrec- 
tion first announced by the angels. But the faithful women were 
to be the first to be rewarded by a revelation for their love which 
urged them on to the grave. But the testimony of these women 
disciples should, nevertheless, not be the fundamental basis for the 
announcement of this incalculable fact. This the further course of 
the evangelical narrative indicates with astonishing clearness. But 
even the women are not in the least too previous in believing. 
The message of the angels, at first, caused within them a mighty 
consternation. They waver between hope and hesitation, and 
finally carry out the request, though most probably only within 
the circle of the disciples. (Consult the interesting explanation by 
Grimm-Zahn, vol. 7, p. 331 sqq., on the apparent tension of the 
account of Matt. 28:8, and Mark, p. 434. Schanz on Mark, p. 
416, Belser, 1, c. p. 459, 460, and note 6, p. 469.) Why does not 
the Saviour Himself appear? Why should the disciples go to 
Galilee? — these were questions and difficulties which, in the midst 
of all joy, concealed within themselves many difficulties — which, 
however, once solved, contained in reality within themselves a 
magnificent revelation. (See Grimm-Zahn, p. 333.) While now 
the women hurriedly leave the tomb, without changing the least 
therein, Peter and John hasten, after receiving the message from 
Mary Magdalen — and probably in company with Mary Magdalen 
herself 1 — upon another road to the tomb. (John 20: 2-10.) They 
convince themselves that the tomb is empty. The linen cloths, 
lying well ordered in the tomb, which had covered the body of 
Christ, and the napkin which had been about His head not lying 
with the linen cloths, but apart wrapt up in another place — by 
no means pointed to any desecration of the grave by the hand of an 

1 If Mary Magdalen did not precede them. See Catharine Emmerich, Life of 
Jesus, p. 1066. (German Ed.) 



426 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



enemy, but to something quite different: there is no trace whatever 
of force or of disorder. St. John, c. 20: 2-9, gives us a psychological 
impression : surprise, inquisitive astonishment, a troubled throbbing 
of feelings; in St. John himself all this arose to a faith in the resur- 
rection, as he testifies of himself (20:8). (Thus say St. Cyril of 
Alexandria and St. Chrysostom.) The two disciples return to their 
homes. But Mary Magdalen remains weeping at the grave (John 20 : 
11-18; Mark 16: 9) : There she beholds two angels. She sees Jesus, 
Whom she at first takes to be the gardener. Her hesitation and 
lamentation is now met by the dear and oft-heard word from the 
Risen Master: Mary! Like a flash of lightning, aye more, like 
the full splendor of the rising of the sun, the light of Easter floods 
her very soul: Lumen Christi! Deo gr atlas I Glowingly and trem- 
blingly and adoringly she sinks upon her knees: Rabboni, she 
cries: My Master, my Teacher, my Saviour, my Redeemer, my 
King! "Now she forgets the myrrh and the aloe and the balsam, 
the mortuary linens and the cave of the tomb, aye, even the dis- 
ciples and the pious women she forgets: heaven and earth seem to 
have been united for her, space and time no longer seem to exist, 
she craves for this happiness to continue in the possession of the 
Master, refound and resurrected." (Grimm-Zahn, vol. 7, p. 347.) 
The climax of happiness is not yet reached. Christ desires not 
merely the homage of the pious women, but their deeds. "Do 
not hold Me fast!" (John 20: 17.) He makes her an evangelist. 
As the deacon now on Holy Saturday, so should she bring the 
first direct message of the resurrection and introduce the antici- 
pated celebration of the full Easter glory! She should now, like 
the women at the request of the angels, announce the request of 
Jesus Himself: the resurrection, the last action of the Risen Christ 
in Galilee (the organization of the Church) and the approaching 
ascension of the Risen Lord. (See John 20: 11 sqq.) The adjust- 
ment of John 20: 11 sqq., and Matt. 28:9, will ever remain an 
exegetical difficulty. The one opinion holds that the women had 
returned from the tomb while Mary Magdalen hastened with 
Peter and John to the tomb upon another way. Then Jesus, after 
the departure of the Apostles, appeared to Mary Magdalen at the 
tomb. (John 20: 11-18, and Mark 16 sqq.) To the other women, 
however, who had so far only received the message of the angel, 
He appeared somewhere upon their return. (Matt. 28:8-11.) 
The other opinion teaches that Matthew hastens events in the closing 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



chapter — his transitions and formulas of connections are, in general, 
to be interpreted in a freer manner, since, in consequence of his 
purpose, he desires, and can lay less stress on chronology. He 
hastens to give the account that Jesus desires to transplant, after 
being risen, His final action into Galilee. Matthew mentions, at 
the beginning of the last chapter, the "women," and now, in due 
sequence in the course thereof — especially in 28:9-11, but in a 
summary manner — he gives all that had happened to the 
" women," and how these had to transmit to the disciples the news 
of the resurrection and the message of the Risen Saviour about 
Galilee, without distinguishing what had been done before all the 
women in general, or before one alone (Magdalen) ; he was mainly 
concerned about the proclamation of the resurrection and the 
action of Jesus concerning the resurrection in Galilee. In Matt. 
28: 9-1 1, the apparition to Mary Magdalen alone is found. Mary 
Magdalen embraces the feet of Christ. (Matt. 28:9.) This, 
therefore, explains the words of John 20: 17: "Do not detain Me": 
firj pov oltttov. (About the various interpretations of these words, 
see Schanz, Johannes Kommentar, p. 571-73.) Belser (G. d. L. 
and d. A. d. H., p. 462) is of the opinion that the women had 
remained after the announcement made by the angels, in the excite- 
ment of their souls, in the garden or in its vicinity in some hiding- 
place, and, up to the present, had not announced to any one, neither 
to the returned Magdalen nor to Peter or John, anything about the 
apparition of the angels that they had witnessed nor the angelic 
message of Easter. (Mark, c. 16: 8.) Only after they had heard 
from their hiding-place the name — Mary ! uttered by the lips of 
Jesus did they come forth, and embraced with Mary Magdalen the 
feet of Jesus, and with her received the admonition not yet to 
detain and hold Him fast as a permanent possession. Then they 
heard again the Easter message for the Apostles, and this time 
from the mouth of Jesus Himself, and they now delivered it in 
reality. (Matt. 28:8-11.) We favor the following sequence of 
the joyful message of the Risen Lord to the circle of His friends: 
The women came to the grave and found it empty. Magdalen hastens 
to Peter to announce this. In the meantime two angels announce the 
resurrection to the other women who, at once, hesitatingly at first, 
return to Jerusalem with the angelic message. Then appear Peter 
and John (with Magdalen), and they explore the empty grave. Peter 
and John return. Magdalen remains. The Risen Christ appears 



428 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



now to her first. To the rest of the women He appears somewhere on 
their return to Jerusalem. 

5. The Risen Christ announces Himself to the Church. The 
impression made upon the Apostles and the disciples by the report 
of the women was most significant: "And these words seemed to 
them as idle tales: and they did not believe them." (Luke 24: 9- 
n; Mark 16: 10 and 11, and Luke 24: 13-25.) 1 The Evangelists 
have depicted, in the just quoted passages, "a complete psycho- 
logical picture" of the feelings of the Apostles and disciples. But 
that inimitable and directly obvious account by Luke of the dis- 
ciples at Emmaus describes especially, in a most masterly manner, 
the conflicts of the souls in the circle of the disciples. (Luke 
24: 13 sqq.) They were oppressed and heavy at heart; they were 
agitated to and fro, from fear to fear, from one exciting point to 
another, from light to difficulty, and from difficulties back to a 
hazily burning light, from doubt to hope, and from hope to despair 
(Grimm-Zahn, pp. 351, 352, 374). Xo fact of the history of the 
world received such a searching investigation from all sides, as a 
serious comparison of all evangelical and Apostolic accounts prove, 
as did the resurrection of Christ. It was precisely those subse- 
quent enthusiastic witnesses, those steadfast, unshakeable pro- 
claimers of the resurrection of Christ, that surrendered only after 
they had received the most irrefutable proof of the reality of the 
miracle of miracles. But this also constitutes grandly arranged 
pedagogics for the faith of the world, and it is against these difficulty- 
involving circumstances that all hypotheses and foolhardy attempts of 
explanations, from Celsus down to our modem times, are shattered 
to pieces, and especially the most recent theory of "enthusiasm ." 
(Compare Schanz, Apol. II. Grimm-Zahn, p. 359.) But let us 
continue to follow the close connection. The women had by this 
time announced to the Apostles and disciples the fact of the empty 
grave, the apparition of the angels, aye, the apparition of Christ 
Himself. To this was added the ocular proof of the empty grave 
by Peter and John and the report of the unique rinding of the grave 
which they gave to the circle of the disciples. On Easter, possibly, 
something of the mysterious report of the guards and of the 
surprise- creating session of the Sanhedrin may also have already 
reached the same circle of disciples. In addition hereto re- 



1 A most important apolegetic point in opposition to the most recent theory of 
"enthusiasm" of Harnack and Pneiderer. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



ports of other facts and of most astounding events were afloat 
(Matt. 27:52 sqq.): "And many bodies of the saints, that had 
slept, arose, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, 
came into the holy city, and appeared to many." But even all 
this failed to produce a solution for the Apostles and the disciples. 
They themselves had not been witnesses; they were merely directed 
to go to Galilee, by some mysterious words — and all this by women. 
But the Lord knew the weaknesses of His own. He wished to 
assist them and thereby us, even before the promised activity of 
the Risen One had commenced in Galilee, toward which all now is 
pressing. In the course of the Easter-day the Lord appears — first 
to Peter, amongst the Apostles, not on account of any personal 
consideration on the part of Peter — for he had denied Him — but 
on account of his office: (Luke 24:34; I Cor. 15: 5). This was 
very decisive. Decisive for Peter, who had not seen the Saviour 
since that merciful glance after the denial — then a look of mercy 
— now and here a greeting of the peace of Easter ! But the appari- 
tion was also decisive for the whole circle of the Apostles. For Peter 
begins to exercise his office at once ; instantly there is awakened in 
his soul the remembrance of the commission which the Lord gave 
him on a memorable occasion: Thou being once converted, confirm 
thy brethren! And he did this with great success, for on that even- 
ing we find the Apostles greatly animated by faith in the resur- 
rection, a faith based upon Peter's testimony. (Luke 24: 34.) Thus 
Jesus announces Himself to the head of the Church, and through 
the head to the Church herself, as One duly Risen. But we will 
follow the events to the close. The following is apologetically 
highly important in view of the theory of "enthusiasm." 

On the day of Easter, true, outside of Jerusalem, but within 
the circle of the Apostles, there followed another and very unique 
revelation of the Risen Christ on the way to Emmaus, which we 
have already mentioned above. We can scarcely read or meditate 
upon anything, here in our terrestrial pilgrimage, that is more 
beautiful or of a deeper significance and form than the account of 
this journey by Luke 24: 13, 33. The complete charm of the Easter 
light overflows it, and its brilliant rays afford us an inestimable 
view into the history of the human heart and of the whole humanity, 
onwards and upwards to the very beginning of the old law and for- 
ward into the future of the Kingdom of Christ, but especially and 
mostly into the very depth of the Redeemer's own heart, of the 



430 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Risen Christ. Even those who read and contemplate this evan- 
gelical chapter perceive something of that which, after the revela- 
tion, the disciples said to each other: "Was not our heart burning 
within us, whilst He spoke in the way and opened to us the Scrip- 
tures?" (Luke 24:32; seep. 441.) The disciples who, after the 
revelation, had returned home in a rather perturbed state of mind, 
and who, late in the evening, had rapped at the door of the supper- 
hall and had been admitted by the Apostles, cannot even succeed 
in making known their joyful message before the assembled eleven 
had already rejoicingly announced to them the absolutely sure and 
established apparition of the Lord to Peter. (Luke 24: 33, 34.) 
Now one alleluia swells into another — one proof surges up after 
the other, and now, too, the reports of the women are clothed with 
becoming dignity, though even now the swelling of the jubilation, 
of the joy and the disconcertedness and the fears of many of the 
members of the college fill them with the utmost confusion (Luke 
24:33, and Mark 16: 13), when lo! all of a sudden, Jesus stands 
in their midst and completes all: The morning rays are changed in 
the far-advanced Easter night into a full brightness of the sun: 
/ am HE. Fear not! "Behold My hands and My feet! — a proof 
that it is I." "Touch and See!" The Crucified One is risen, the 
Redeemer of Good Friday. They now adore the Son of God; 
they eat with the Son of Man : Lumen Christi — Deo gratias I 
Light falls from Him over His own life, upon the Old and the New 
Testament, and upon the life of the Apostles and their vocation. 
And now, very late in the night of Easter, He elevates them to 
the culminating point of the greatness of the Redeemer by dis- 
tributing, and guaranteeing for all times, the grandiose fruits of 
His death and resurrection: the remission of sin and the power to 
remit sin: the sacrament of Penance. Yes, on Easter night a 
grateful and redeemed world cries out to Him : Lumen Christi — 
Deo gratias I (John 20: 19-23; Luke 24:36-43; Mark 16: 14; see 
below, p. 441 sqq.) 

Such is the history of the day of Easter — really, the day which 
the Lord hath made: let us rejoice and be glad therein! And in 
all these accounts there is not the slightest vestige of an unwholesome 
"enthusiasm" — rather a sacred realism, which shows the errors of 
even historical (?) critics! (such as Loisy and Harnack claim to be). 

Eomiletic remarks. The facts just developed and arranged accord- 
ing to certain historical points, might easily be presented also in a rhe- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



torical manner: but in this case the inserted harmonical questions 
ought to be omitted. But the preacher should be thoroughly conscious 
of their solution. For this very reason we have given them, in the 
above text, a more detailed consideration. From the contents of the 
above exegesis the preacher should select, for each point, the most 
fruitful and most pregnant ideas. 

First plan. The day of Easter. What it announces and what it exacts. 
Text: Haec est dies, quam fecit Dominus! 

1. What does the day of Easter announce? It announces Christ 
risen. Surrexit Dominus vere! In other words: The Saviour reveals 
and announces Himself on this day. The preacher should now develop, 
in a prolific and striking climax, the following points which have already 
been mentioned above, within rhetorical limitations. 

(a) Christ Risen announces Himself to the tomb and to death. 

(b) Christ Risen announces Himself to the world. 

(c) Christ Risen announces Himself to His enemies. 

(d) Christ Risen announces Himself to His friends. 

(e) Christ Risen announces Himself to the Church : to Peter, through 
Peter to the rest of the Apostles, through them and their successors — 
as teachers, as witnesses, and as martyrs (sealed with their blood) to all 
men, to all generations, all peoples, and nations down to this very day 
(see above, Point 1-5 inch, see also p. 4 sqq.). Such is the history of the 
day of Easter; it is indeed the day which the Lord hath made. (Insert 
some apologetic points.) But 

2. What does the day of Easter exact? When we take another good 
view of the greatest day of the Lord, which we have just considered, 
when we ask ourselves: What does the Risen Saviour seek, what does 
He ask of the world, of His enemies, of His friends, and, above all, of 
His Church? then all the glorious events of the day of Easter proclaim 
it and all the pages of the Gospel announce it loudly : Faith — Faith — 
true, real, full and living Faith the Risen Saviour seeks. And when we 
look back upon the whole life of Jesus, what was His first request? 
Faith. And now turn over the pages of the Gospel down to Ascension- 
day, and ever and always does Jesus seek — long for — praise, and strive 
to beget Faith. His last complaint was a complaint on account 
of a want of Faith, and His last act: the mission of the Church as the 
teacher of Faith. Faith is not all, it is not the only command of Christ. 
More exalted than faith is love. But Faith, as the Council of Trent, 
inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, proclaims clearly and beautifully, 
is the beginning of our salvation, the root and the foundation of our 
justification, and of our entire righteousness and justice before God. 
Faith is indeed the demand of Easter. (See p. 400 sqq.) 

Let us consider it in the light of Easter. Habetefidem! Have faith! 



432 HOMLLETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Christ came into the world. He acknowledged Himself as the Son of 
God. He founded a great and an exalted religion. He worked miracles 
and His life surpasses all that is holy and great of whatsoever the world 
has ever seen. He is taken prisoner, and nailed to the cross, and He 
died the death of the weak. His very person seemed to be annihilated 
(see above p. 342). His work, His kingdom, His Church are threatened 
with ruination. Now He is risen: He has shown Himself to the tomb, 
to death, to His enemies, to His friends, to the Church, to the world: 
Ego sum, nolite timere! Now all His miracles, all His deeds, and all 
His words are revivified. (A concrete explanation.) What follows from 
this? Christ is God. But God is Truth. (Compare the thoughts de- 
veloped above, pp. 232 and 233, which might be applied, in the fullest 
sense, to the Risen Christ; compare also p. 234.) Who stands before 
us? Christus, auctoritas ipsius Dei revelantis, qui nec falli nee fallere 
potest (Vatic. Council, S. III. c. 3). Look up to Him! What does He 
say on the most beautiful and greatest day of His life? On Easter 
night He stands in the circle of the Apostles and thereby also in your 
midst. And He says: "I am He," i.e., "I am the Son of God. I am 
the Truth. I cannot ever be deceived. No one can ever deceive Me, 
and never, through all eternity, will I ever deceive any soul. I give 
testimony to the truth. I have founded My Church. She brings you 
the religious truths, and secures for you your eternal destiny in the man- 
sions of the heavenly Father. Were it not thus I would have told 
you so (compare John 14 : 2, sqq.). Hear the Church, for My sake! 
Be subject to Me, even though you do not understand the mysteries 
of this My Holy religion: Habete fidem! Credite in Deum, et in Me 
creditis! (John 14: 1 sqq.) Have faith. I am the Light. I am the 
Truth. And if we heed this demand, what will we do? We will utter 
one word with our whole soul, and repeat it solemnly when the priest and 
the choir intone, after the sermon, the Credo — Credo — I believe! 

(a) Thou, Who art risen, art the Christ, the Son of the living God, the 
truth, which can never deceive nor be deceived. Thou hast the words 
of eternal life. To whom else shall we go? 

(b) Not on account of our own opinion nor upon our own concep- 
tion do we accept your religion, but upon Thy word, for Thy sake, Who 
art the eternal and the hrst truth (Non propter intrinsecam rerum veri- 
tatem naturali rationis lumine perspectam, Con. Vat., S. III. c. 3), do 
we accept the entire exalted, glorious, and yet the most heartfelt 
religion. 

(c) For Thy sake, 0 Risen Saviour, we hear the Church. Thou, O 
Risen Saviour, hast said to Peter: Feed My lambs, feed My sheep. Thou 
hast instituted the Church, as Thy last grand work — made her a teacher 
of Thy truth, a witness of Thy life, and a proclaimer of Thy laws, under 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the guidance of the Pope, who feeds the lambs and the sheep. (See 
above, pp. 3 and 4, also p. 362.) 

id) For Thy sake, on account of Thee, we accept the various doctrines 
— they are rays of Thy sun and words of Thy truth. 

(e) For Thy sake, O Saviour! we permit these doctrines and prin- 
ciples of faith to control our lives. 

(a) When, after a full week of labor, the Sunday approaches, then 
the Risen Christ induces us to be present at the Sunday mass, and there 
to pay homage to Him Who is risen. Aye, this faith in the Risen Christ 
becomes the principle of our lives. No Sunday without the Sunday 
mass. Faith in the Risen Lord leads us to the congregational mass, to 
the altar, and to the pulpit, that Catholic light may shine into our eyes 
and Catholic blood flow in our veins. 

If the paschal time admonishes us that : nunc est tempus accepta- 
bile: nunc sunt dies salutis, then the same faith directs Christians to the 
confessional. We know that there we shall not merely receive the word 
of man but also of God: Thy sins are forgiven thee. On the evening 
of Easter-day the Risen Lord gave to the Apostles and to the priests the 
divine power to remit the sins of those who are heartily sorry for them 
(compare above, p. 308). Therefore to the tribunal of penance are we 
likewise called by the gloriously Risen Lord. Confession is merely the 
practical conclusion of the Credo! And if faith is firmly alive in us, then 
we will often follow the invitation of the Risen Lord to approach the 
tribunal of penance and receive the greeting of the peace of absolution. 
Expurgate vetus jermentum. Etenim Pascha nostrum immolatus est 
Christus: Itaque epulemur non in fermento veteri, neque in jermento mali- 
tiae et nequitiae sed in azyniis sinceritatis et veritatis. (Epistle of Easter, 
I Cor. c. 5; p. 418). 

(y) Permit me now, in the midst of this Easter-day, to take a rapid 
view of your terrestrial, your private life. I shall not cast stones upon 
any one, but merely utter a salutary truth. Christ Risen would also like 
to cast His rays into that part of human life when the time approaches, 
which human language designates as a high (Hochzeit) festive time, the 
solemnity of a marriage. When a noble young man and a good, pious 
young woman resolve to take that great step which leads to the forma- 
tion of a new family — then again the Risen Lord stands at the wayside 
of life and says: Habete fideni! — Believe ye! Faith declares that a 
noble courtship is a preparation for a sacrament, therefore, a time of 
living faith and not of levity (compare p. 243). " Marriage is a great 
mystery, but I speak in Christ and in the Church." Faith in the Risen 
Saviour reminds us that marriage creates an indissoluble union between 
man and woman, one heart and one soul, as it were. Therefore, there 
should reign, above all, a unity of faith in marriage. Faith is the root 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and the foundation of a righteous life. And wherever the Church, though 
unwillingly, forced by circumstances and temporal conditions, permits 
mixed marriages and admits the necessary dispensation, then the Risen 
Lord stands before the Catholic bridegroom or the Catholic bride and 
exhorts them: Habete fidem! Hold fast to your faith! If you are a 
sincere and real Catholic, if conviction reigns in your soul, then you will 
consider it your indispensable duty to rear the souls of all your children 
in the faith of the Risen Christ. We judge not of the good- will and the 
extraordinary ways of other believers who seek Christ. But the Catholic 
is most sacredly bound, by the Risen Lord Himself, to rear his children 
in the Church founded by the Risen Lord Himself. Never and at no 
time may he withdraw them from the teacher of the truths of Christ, 
from the witness of the life of Christ and the proclaimer of His law. 
And wherever infidelity has already begun, in this regard, there the 
Easter-day and the paschal time urge him who is remiss to seek advice 
for the fulfilment of his obligation from the pastoral office and through 
the tribunal of penance. (We have here sketched this thought because 
we deem it most proper that such thoughts be treated from time to time 
in festive sermons. On feast-days, especially, those circles are repre- 
sented among the hearers which stand mostly in need thereof. Still, 
such admonitions should not be given precipitately to the people. The 
doctrine and the joyful message of the day should first be announced, 
and the splendid but ever serious relation between ourselves and the 
Risen Lord should be developed, and then only should we descend quietly 
and within the light of the paschal thoughts, into the important and yet 
tender and difficult sphere.) 

(S) And not only on special feasts and solemn occasions, but always 
and every day does the Risen Lord stand, as it were, in our midst. Medius 
vestrum stat, quern vos nescitis. (John 1:26.) He addresses to us His 
Easter order: Habete fidem I Permit the Easter light of faith to shine 
into every condition of your lives, into the very depth of your souls, and 
into all the sides and shades of your character. (Compare Holy Satur- 
day, n. 1 and 2 : New fire! new fight! p. 439 sqq.) There is really not a 
moment in which Christ does not, in some way, remind us: at times 
forcibly and mightily, then silently and gently, for He hath said: I abide 
with you forever, even unto the consummation of the world. If, there- 
fore, He daily illumines us with the light of the resurrection, then He 
always puts before us again His first great question : Do you five accord- 
ing to faith and by faith? (A practical application might here be easily 
made use of.) 

Upon the obelisk in the piazza of St. Peter in Rome the principle 
and the Easter order of the Church are graven in burning letters : Christus 
yivitl Christus vincitl Christus regnat! Engrave this inscription also 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



upon your souls. There Christ should live and conquer. He Who 
revealed and announced Himself to the grave, to death, and to the world, 
to His enemies and to His friends and to the Church, should likewise 
live therein. This is done by faith in the risen Lord, by complying with 
His command: faith should reign in your thoughts and in your lives. 
That which the day of Easter brings and demands may be expressed in 
a word: Haec est victoria quae vincit mundum: Fides nostra. Quis est 
qui vincit mundum nisi qui credit, quoniam Jesus est Filius Dei? Let 
this be our Easter principle: I believe that Christ is the Son of God, and 
for His sake I will observe the behests of religion and the command- 
ments of the Church of the Risen One, in the inmost life of my soul and 
in my public life. (I John, c. 1-5, espec. 5: 4 sqq.) 

Second plan. Easter day. The Easter light is shining. The Easter 
joy is jubilant. Therefore let us consider the day more closely on which 
we rejoice and are jubilant, and which is really the day which the 
Lord hath made. How did the Lord make this day ? (a) He is risen and 
announces Himself to the grave and to death. Easter is a day that 
reminds us that there is a home beyond the grave. (A memorial of 
eternity: aeternitatis aditum nobis reserasti.) (b) He is risen and an- 
nounces Himself to the world. Easter is a memorial of the fact that 
Satan is not the prince of the world, but that Christ is King, Who in His 
final trial, in the very midst of His downfall, proclaimed Himself such. 
(See above, Good Friday, p. 295, Holy Saturday, pp. 399 and 407, Palm 
Sunday, p. 342, Passion Sunday, p. 297, III Sunday of Lent, p. 280 sqq.) 
(Memorial day of the victory of Christ over Satan.) (c) He is risen and 
announces Himself to His enemies. Easter is the day on which we 
commemorate that the enemies of Christ and of the Church shall never 
be ultimately victorious. (Memorial day of the victory of Christ over 
His enemies.) (d) He is risen and announces Himself to His friends. 
Easter reminds us that we, too, are not servants, but the friends of 
Christ who are initiated into His mysteries. Jam non dicam vos servos, 
sed amicos, quia omnia quaecumque audivi a Patre, nota feci vobis (by 
faith, of which we celebrate today the day of rejoicing and jubilation) 
John 15:15. (Memorial of the friendship of Christ.) (e) He is risen and 
announces Himself to the Church. Easter is the day of joy which 
announces to us that Christ teaches and lives in His Church as the Truth 
and the Life. (Memorial of the Church of Christ). In the Church, 
founded by Him Who is risen, we conquer the grave, the death of the 
body and of the soul, our enemies from within and from without, and 
we enter into the eternal Church and home of Him Who is risen. (For 
this make a selection from the material given in the history of Easter.) 

Third plan. What does the Risen Saviour announce? Himself 
(n. 1 and 2) to His enemies (n. 3), and to His friends (n. 4 and 5). 



436 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Fourth plan. Christ Risen announces Himself 
(a) on Easter morn as the Truth. (Main thought of n. 1-5, see 
p. 400.) 

(6) on the evening of Easter as the Life. (Main thought on the grace 
of Easter in close connection with the institution of the sacrament of 
Penance on Easter night. Compare espec. pp. 308, 309, 310.) 

Fifth plan. Two fundamental Easter thoughts: 

(a) faith (n. 1-5). (b) Confession (n. 6 and p. 308 sqq.) 

Sixth plan. 1. Who is He that is risen? (The Lord of the grave, 
of the spiritual and corporal death, of the world, of the enemies and the 
friends of Christ and of the Church — as the Son of God; n. 1-5.) 

2. What does the Risen Christ ask? Today but one thing: Away 
with sin: expurgate vetus fermentum. The command of confession on 
Easter night: (n. 5 and p. 309, and espec. p. 418). 

Seventh plan. A festive homily on the evangelical history of Easter. 
A rapid progress of the homily as a climax, and a dwelling on a central 
thought at the end, f.i., within the limits of the text: Scio, cut credidi. 
(II Tim. 1: 12, p. 431.) 

We need not be here reminded how important a clear conception of 
the events of Easter-day is for Easter sermons in general, and especially 
so for the dogmatic-historic festive sermons, f.i., for such themes as the 
following: "This is the day which the Lord hath made." "The greatest 
day within the life of Christ." "The announcement of the resurrection." 
"If Christ be not risen, then our faith is vain." "Christ the foundation 
of Easter." "The Easter foundation of our faith." "Christ the new 
light of Easter." "The greatest event," etc. (See St. Thorn., Sum. 
III. p. q. 550 1 

§ 48. The Easter Mysteries of Faith 

The entire wealth of the Easter mysteries of Faith may be 
developed from a dogmatic and an apologetic side. (See §§ 44, 
46, and 47.) 

I. The dogmatic development. We recommend to the student 
and to the preacher the selection of the Summa of St. Thomas, 
3 P- 53 - 6°> as a guide for the dogmatic development of the 
Easter mysteries. Whoever reads and thoroughly considers the 
really golden articles of these questions will obtain the richest kind 
of an incentive for sketching and developing the subject. We 

1 For conferences and addresses to societies the history of Easter is especially 
adapted, as given on p. 499 sqq. In regard to placing the date of Easter and Good- 
Friday, see p. 410 sqq. See also the history of Christmas, p. 215. Also the 2nd. of 
Kellner's Heortology, p. 29 sqq., p. 66; Theme: The History and its importance of 
the feast of Easter. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 437 



do not, of course, recommend a homiletic treatment of every article. 
But many of them contain an almost fully sketched and latent 
paschal sermon. In reference to these articles, compare thoughts 
on the liturgy already developed above. We desire to give several 
examples as an inducement for a wider and an independent work. 

Theme A. (Question 50, A. 1.) Why did Christ arise from the dead? 

(a) ad divinae justitiae commendationem: for the glorification of 
divine justice. 

(b) ad fidei nostrae instructionem: for the edification of our faith. 

(c) ad spei nostrae erectionem: for the uplifting of our hope. 

(d) ad vitae nostrae informationem: for the conduct, the edification 
of our lives. 

(e) ad salutis nostrae consummationem: for the perfection of our 
salvation. 

The preacher should note the latent climax in this sketch and the 
fruitful scriptural texts quoted in the corpus articuli. The theme might 
properly be treated as a climax of short and constantly rising points. 

The same might again be developed according to the following 
sketch : 

Theme B. What does the resurrection of Christ effect? 

1. The justification of God. See point a. 

2. Our own justification. See point b-e. 

The preacher might also occasionally explain the various concepts, 
signifying more than a mere play on words of the double expression: 
Justification. In the development of the second part the above climax 
a-e should again be considered. It would be proper to begin the second 
part with the fidei nostrae instructio in which the doctrine of the Council 
of Trent : Fides est humanae salutis initium fundamentum et radix omnis 
justifications, Trid. Sess. 6 c. 8, might serve as a convincing proof. 

Or Theme C. The building up of Easter. "A building by God." 
Describe : 

1. The ground of the building: Jesus Christ Risen. 

2. The foundation: faith in Christ Risen (fidei instructio). 

3. The superstructure: i.e., Hope in Christ Risen (Spei erectio). 

4. The exterior of the building: i.e our life through the grace of 
Christ risen (vitae informatio). Finally 

5. The interior of the building: in eternity through Christ (salutis 
nostrae consummaiio) . 

N.B. The same theme with point 3 and 4: foundation, superstruc- 
ture, exterior building. See also the development of the liturgy. Com- 
pare also § 44 p. 398 and 448 sqq. 

Theme D. (Q. 53, A. 2, 3, 4.) How did Christ arise? 



4*8 HOMHETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



1. By His own power. Q. 5 ; A. 4. Add hereto, above: History of 
Easter. The Riser. Saviour announces Hirasea to the .grave ana to 
death and § 46: The entire horniletic-liturgical view: other conceptions 
aa. with note 1. p. 416. 

2. As the first among the dead. Q. 53 A. 2. A final concentration. 
The arrangement of 3, 2, 1, may also be advisable. 

Theme E. (Q. 54, A. 1, 2, 3.) How did Christ arise? 

1. Yere-really. A. 1 and A. 2 or The whole of Christ . See above 
§ 47 A. 3, sqq. 

2. Gloriose — gloriously (as the glorified Christ). A. 2 and 3. 
The more subtle investigations should be avoided. The beautiful 
scriptural pass:, ces which hive fc een : a : be 0 . however, put many of these 
more subtle questions into an exalted light. Incentives for applications 
are found in the very corpus zr;icu'.i. Compare Meschler. The Life of 
Chris:, the Essence :: the Resurrection, II Vol.. EEC. p. 452. 

Theme F. Q. 56 A. 1 and 2.. The Rise: Christ, :'<>: source 0/ our 
resurrection: 

1. of the resurrection of the spirit (see p. 418 sqq.), 

2. of the flesh (see Foerster, Osterpredigt, on this subject). 
Theme G. Credo carnis resurrectionem. See Thomas, q. 50 A. 1 and 

supplem. Q. 75— St. Cf. Portmann. Das System cer Sunama des hi. 
71a: mas. I ed. p. 5:5 sec. ana especially YVfllaauers. Rehgioushacher. 
on the respective subject, C compare also the classical sermon of Foerster 
cn "tJnsere Auf ers:ehung." als: the sermons cf Monsahre. 

II. The apologetic development. This should be done: 
[a Never as if in presence of a crowd of unbelievers: because 
thereby the Easter joy cf the faithful might be totally destroyed. 

(b) As a basis of solemn, exact, and thoroughly described 
Easter facts compare above. § 47 : these carry tne most convin- 
cing apologetics within themselves. Thus did the Apostles preach 
in Jerusalem, Athens, Corinth, and in Rome. (See the Acts of 
tne Apostles ana tne Epistles :f the Easter-week. 

(c) By developing the entire apologetic extent of the history of 
the resurrection. Compare the Ape logic of Hettinger. Scbanz. 
Gutberlet. and Hancmerstein. 

d By adducing and thoroughly refating every new and the 
most recent hypotheses by positive proofs which carry already 
within themselves a refutation, and after v-hi:h such short apcio- 
getic-polemic remarks become doubly effective, 

In the exposition of the facts of the resurrection some important 
points on the credibility of the Gospels might be inserted, or upon 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



439 



the force of the testimony of the Apostles and of the other witnesses, 
as well as similar apologetic excursus. Most excellent types of 
this rather difficult treatment are contained in Hettinger's Apologie, 
and very rich material in Schanz, and also Gutberlet, in the intro- 
duction to the New Testament by Belser, Trenkle, and Schaefer. 
Thus many objections melt away of themselves, and through the 
positive argumentation the hearer feels himself already gleefully 
strengthened and animated to pull down all the bulwarks which 
strive to raise themselves up against truth. (Compare, II Cor. 
10 : 4 sqq., p. 234 sqq., p. 700, and in the supplement.) 

§49. The Fruits op Easter — "In the Newness of Lite" 

For a homiletic treatment of the sacramental fruits we refer 
to our homiletic remarks on Lenten Sermons and sermons on the 
paschal sacraments in general (p. 307 sqq.), also to the history of 
Holy Saturday, p. 365 sqq. : The great night in the Lateran, to 
the homiletic-liturgical development of Holy Saturday and to the 
liturgy of Easter itself (p. 398 sqq., and 418 sqq.). For the homi- 
letic treatment of the moral fruits and of the relation between the 
paschal graces and the fruits of character for time and eternity y 
we direct especially to our exposition of Holy Saturday (new fire, 
new light, new life), and also to the paragraphs on the liturgy of 
Easter (p. 416), on the octave of Easter, and on Eastertide (§§ 50 
and 51). (See the Supplement of this book.) 

§ 50. The Octave of Easter 

In hoc potissimum tempore gloriosius praedicare 

1. The history of the octave of Easter has already been treated 
in the history of Easter night (p. 396, n. 9). 

2. The general festive thoughts for the Easter octave are: 

(a) A development of the history of the resurrection of Christ, 
from the day of Easter to Ascension-day. Compare especially 
the splendid cycle of the Gospels of Easter-week. The liturgy is, 
moreover : 

(b) A development of the history of the resurrection of Chris- 
tians from the day of their resurrection (baptism) to the day of 
their ascension, and in fact: 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(a) The resurrection through the baptism of Easter. (Com- 
pare the Introits and the alternating songs in general.) 

Q8) The resurrection through the Easter confession, to which 
all the passages just mentioned may be applied: 

(y) The abiding resurrection through the Easter-communion. 
(Compare the communion verses, also below: remarks on Easter 
Monday.) 

(8) The new life of resurrection through the imitation of Christ 
risen: in novitate vitae ambulemus. (See pp. 162 and 163; also 

P. 435-) 

The Church describes the paschal life in the Gospels and partly 
in the Epistles : The holy women, Mary Magdalen, Peter, Thomas, 
Saul, all the Apostles show us how, from the root of faith and from 
the power of grace combined with our own co-operation, the real 
Easter life is gradually developed. 

The Church in her orations implores this paschal life according 
to all its bearings and activities. 

The Church rejoices over this paschal life in her psalms, anti- 
phons, alternating songs, sequences, and in the constantly renewed 
alleluias. 

The paschal liturgy is finally: 

(c) A development of the resurrection of Christ and of the 
Christian in the Church, which the Risen Lord finally arranges, 
advances, and perfects. (This is especially shown in the Gos- 
pels, the Epistles of the octave, and the concluding verses of the 
four Gospels, see pp. 4 and 448 d.) 

3. An application of these festive thoughts by the preacher 
may be made either on Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, or at any 
time during Eastertide. In ancient times the Christian people 
celebrated the whole Easter-week. Even today the Feria II and 
III are feasts of first class, and the octave is highly privileged. 
Easter Monday alone had remained in many Catholic countries, 
up to the present time, a holy day, though it is in many places 
abrogated. Since the liturgy compresses the whole of the liturgy 
of the resurrection into one solitary week, therefore the preachers 
would do well, by way of a change from time to time, to deliver a 
cycle of sermons on the Gospels of Easter-week, or on the actions 
of the risen Christ from Easter Sunday to Ascension-day. Thus 
all the glories of the risen Lord could be developed to the people. 
This might be done in various ways : as a cycle of exegetic or thematic 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



441 



homilies in a chronological order of the life of Christ, — or as a cycle 
of sermons closely connected with the history of the resurrection, 
f.i. : The Risen Lord and faith (Thomas), the Risen Lord and love 
(Magdalen), the Risen Lord and spiritual progress (the disciples of 
Km mans) , the Risen Lord and the Church (which Christ built and 
perfected, and in which faith and love and progress should prosper. 
Compare the final accounts of the four Gospels; see above, pp. 4 
and 448), etc. Through the cycle of homilies a development of 
the extent of the several apparitions of Jesus, in all its bearings, 
is most lovingly attained, so that the people may learn to know 
the Risen Christ constantly more and more. Though several 
thoughts may be repeated here and there, still each portion pro- 
duces a new central thought and former ideas in a new light. The 
consideration of the Gospels will reveal whether or not the exegetic 
or the thematic treatment is more advisable. We may here recom- 
mend as auxiliary means: Grimm-Zahn, Leben Jesu, VII, B.; 
Meschler, Life of Jesus; Lohmann, Betrachtungen; Lohmann, 
E vangelienharmonie ; Belser and the missal. For practical appli- 
cations the Epistles, orations, and the Introits of Easter-week will 
afford manifold incentives. (Compare herewith our former exposi- 
tion of Holy Saturday.) Several reminiscences of the ancient Chris- 
tian Stations in Rome might possibly be here and there properly 
interwoven (see p. 396). We recommend this development of 
Easter-week throughout the entire Eastertide very much. If this 
is done, the intervening Gospels of the Sundays should be merely 
read and not considered in the cycle of that year. 

We will now add a homiletic sketch of Easter Monday, 
A sketch of a thematic homily on the Gospel of Easter Monday. 
(Luke 24: 13-35.) 

We will select the following sketch as an example. 

1. Verses 13, 14. Jesus is far away. The disciples without Jesus: 
A heart rilled with prejudices. Where Jesus is not — there is error, sin, 
and confusion, and whenever we withdraw ourselves only slightly from 
Him, shadows fall upon our souls (perhaps a word upon the apparent 
religious desolation of the tried faithful and upon the full desolation of 
the unbeliever and the sinner; compare Ignatius, Exercises; Lohnmann, 
Betrachtungen, z. Osterbetrachtung) . 

2. Verses 15-23. Jesus approaches in love. Et factum est . . . Ipse 
Jesus appro pinquans ibat cum illis. They know it not. They know 
Him not. But presently a ray of light falls upon their souls: What a 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



happiness to walk with Jesus! Often our ways of life are confused on 
account of some cross, some sorrow or care, and Jesus walks beside us 
without our knowledge. Wherever a cross is carried — Jesus follows. 
Why do we not speak to Him about our cross? Our life is a woven 
carpet. We see its wrong side. Jesus sees the right side, which He 
Himself has woven. The disciples only saw the dark side, but Jesus 
gradually shows them the bright side of His and their suffering: Qui 
sunt hi sermones, quos confer tis ad invicem ambulantes et estis iristes? 
What love is concealed in these tender and soft words, which caused 
them to be spoken ! They are also an index for us, how we should not 
repel those in sorrow but gently and prudently strive to induce them to 
speak, in order that we might be able to pour a few drops of balsam into 
their troubled hearts. The disciples now express themselves. We 
become acquainted with their Jewish prejudices. We learn to know their 
reserve in regard to the just beginning articles of faith concerning the 
resurrection of Christ, especially in regard to the report of the women. 
We learn also to know their remissness and indifference which prevented 
them from examining conscientiously any further, and made them fail 
to recollect the grand acts of the life of Christ. Had they done so they 
might easily, with God's grace, have come to the judgment: Credibile est; 
credendum est, and upon this way attained faith itself: volo credere, credo! 
But there is also concealed therein a disposition and a permission of the 
coming Jesus. The doubt of the disciples and of the Apostles served as 
a secure and grand confirmation of a real act of faith. Thus their 
doubt aided the unbelief and the weakness of the faith of future genera- 
tions. Behold, how the coming Jesus weaves everywhere the glorious 
carpet of divine providence. 

3. Verses 24 and 25. Jesus gently rebukes them. After Christ had 
approached and gently poured into the heart the first drops of balsam, 
He then reproached the disciples: O stulti et tar di corde ad credendum. . . . 
We listen here to one of the sweetest pulsations of the heart of Jesus. 
The gentle Jesus ever demands faith. He ever longs to educate His 
own up to faith. He condemns unbelief. And the want of a spirit of 
faith He ever rebukes most strongly: tardi corde (a retrospection into 
the life of Christ, — insert eventually one or the other passage) . Faith 
is not merely a matter of reason. It is a matter of the will and of the 
heart as well. With God's strengthening grace we must possess the will 
to accept the mysteries and the truths of faith for Jesus' sake, for God's 
sake, Who is truth itself. Let us learn that the first command of Jesus 
is: Faith! The world says: Faith matters not! Christ says: Have 
faith above all things! Thus it was during His whole life. And as the 
Lord appears in the newly glorified life for the first time, He demands 
faith again and rebukes the want of faith. Then the Spirit of truth had 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



not yet been sent. We have received Him. Therefore our obligation 
of faith is the more serious and stronger. The disciples, it is true, had 
not complete faith in Jesus, but the message of His resurrection, which 
they would liked to have believed, did not seem to them sufficiently 
guaranteed. They were seriously reproached. The Lord openly de- 
clares that down in their hearts there is guilt. How truthful, therefore, 
is this teaching of the Church : fides est humanae salutis initium, funda- 
mentum et radix omnis justificationis . How true and correct is the 
Catholic principle. No instructed Catholic apostatizes from his faith 
without his own fault: he always has enough grace and reason for 
faith! 

4. Verses 26-28. Christ teaches most clearly. After Christ had 
shown the duty of faith He unfolded the contents of faith also to them. 
It must have been a marvelous address which He delivered to the disciples 
on the way. He taught them by word of mouth, for He is the living 
teacher of faith. At that time He himself still administered the office 
of teaching. He Himself was the teacher and the rule of faith. He 
began to draw richly and abundantly from the sources of faith, and 
especially from Holy Scripture. He explained it gloriously and over- 
whelmingly. That must have been a most exalted hour of biblical 
study when He began, from Moses down, to trace through the writings 
of the Old Testament the paths of the Messiah, of the Redeemer, when 
He had gathered all the sketches of the Messiah into a magnificent 
picture of Christ, and put all the contributions of Holy Scripture finally 
together and unfolded them. He had presented the Redeemer to their 
souls in a clear and a bright light and in the most glowing colors — so 
that they were all eye and ear, and drank in the words of the teacher 
from His own lips, and were carried away enraptured and filled with 
infinite joy. He had depicted to them the coming, the suffering, and 
the glorified Messiah. Bright as the sun His picture stood before their 
souls. He had now finished His triumphant proofs. Respondently, 
glowingly, and enrapturously, He had answered His thesis, His ques- 
tion : Nonne oportuit pati Christum et sic intrare in gloriam suam ? 1 He 
had concluded. Complete stillness reigned in the midst of the wanderers. 
But their hearts which had been touched were beating mightily. Later 
they declared: Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis, cum loqueretur 
in via et aperiret nobis Scripturas? The teaching Saviour impressed 
them mightily: they hear and they listen; their whole being, their very 
selves cling to Him. They hear Him. Their hearts are on fire. They 
long to hear more, to hear Him again. They invite Him to abide with 

1 The biblical hour of the Saviour is also a great hint for us preachers how we 
should present the picture of the Christ to our hearers. See above, p. 99, and 
137 n. 21. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



them : Mane nobiscum quoniam advesperascit et inclinata est jam dies. 
(For a selection.) 

Jesus still teaches amongst us. The Risen Lord has instituted a 
living, teaching office. He has made the (teaching) Church the teacher 
of truth, the herald of His law, the witness of His life, and has placed her 
under the one shepherd of the lambs and of the sheep; her faith will 
never fail. (See the end of the four Gospels.) With this teaching 
Church the Risen Saviour will abide all days, to the very end of time. 
To this teaching Church He has sent the Spirit of truth. (See pp. 13-27.) 
This Church draws, as Christ did, from the fountains of Holy Scripture 
and tradition. Under her direction, as did the disciples of Emmaus 
under the direction of Christ, we enter into the mysteries of the Bible 
and into the very depth of all religion. What is the Catholic religion? 
What does it guarantee? It is Christ Jesus and no less. It brings us 
Christ and no less, but the whole Christ, His person, His truth, His 
grace, Christ with all the rays of His light and of His life, with all His 
consequences and His commands. The preacher should paint a rapid 
and striking portrait of Christ, from the whole Scripture, from the 
Gospels, or solely from the history of the resurrection. He should show 
the people how gloriously Christ stands before us. Once He lay, as a 
poor child, upon straw in a manger, like an ordinary abandoned human 
child. Then the heavens were opened and angels glorified the child as 
the Son of God: Gloria in excelsisl The cloud of humanity concealed 
the Son of God. Then the cloud was torn asunder and the Sun of divinity 
became resplendent. Once He appeared as a young man on the banks 
of the Jordan, where John baptized. He went down into the waters 
with publicans and sinners. But when He had been baptized the 
heavens were opened. In the mysterious form of a dove the Holy Ghost 
descended, and the Father in heaven declares: This is My beloved Son, 
in Whom I am well pleased. The cloud of humanity is rent asunder: 
the Sun of the divinity shines forth brightly. He passes through Pales- 
tine: the foxes have their holes and the birds their nests, but the Son 
of Man had naught whereon to lay His head. Simple, often despised, 
He wanders, the carpenter's son, through the cities and fields of Pales- 
tine. In Nairn He meets a funeral procession, which carries the most 
precious of a widowed mother, her only son, to the grave. He approaches 
the bier. One word: Young man, I say to thee — arise! — and He 
gives back to the mother him who had been a victim of death — her 
only son — now alive. Do you see the illuminating rays of the divine 
Sun? A few days later He passes, in a small bark, over the sea of 
Genesareth; being fatigued He sleeps in the bark. Presently a mighty 
wind attacks the quiet waters. The uproar of the waves threaten to 
devour the little bark. Round about there reigns a furious storm over 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the sea and also in the hearts of the Apostles an inexpressible storm of 
fear, of excitement, and of despair! Crying for help they awaken the 
Master. Amidst the pressure of the waves and of their hearts His 
noble form arises in undisturbed majesty: the only one calm amidst the 
unrest of the waves and of hearts. The winds and the waves cast the 
little bark, like a nut-shell, over the hills and the valley of the waves. 
One word: Be calm! Be silent! et facta est tranquillitas magna: and 
there came suddenly a great calm: calm air, and a calm sea. Silently 
the fishermen's bark sails over the smoothened surface toward the 
eastern bank into the dawning day: and those who were in the bark 
whispered to each other in an indescribable veneration and emotion: 
Who is He, Who commands even the winds and the sea and they obey 
Him? Do you see the Sun of the divinity shining from beneath the 
cloud of humanity? Once He prayed on Mt. Olive. Commissioned 
officers and spies came and put Him into chains. He is dragged from 
court to court. Abandoned by His own, crowned in mockery, He 
stands before Pilate and awaits the final sentence. The fury of the 
leaders and of the people roar about Him: Crucify Him! and con- 
demned He takes up the cross and carries it over fourteen Stations. 
Now, fastened to the wood of ignominy, abandoned by all, He dies. 
But He had taught solemnly that He would die voluntarily, in order 
to pay and atone for the boundless guilt of the sins of humanity: Be- 
hold, the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world! It is 
consummated! But He is not vanquished! Now on the morning of the 
third day astonishing messengers frighten His own. And the message 
is verified clearer than the sun: He is risen in the very citadel of death. 
He announces Himself to death, to His friends and His enemies, and tins 
glorious and infinite Jesus, of Whom all this had been prophesied since 
the days of Moses — verifies it. It is true — you are redeemed : pax 
vobis: peace be to you! Precisely this Jesus and His whole truth, the 
entire majesty of His doctrine, shine forth to us through the teaching 
office of the Church: In my Father's house there are many mansions: 
were it not so I, the Son of God, would have told you so: There is 
an immensely happy eternity, there are mansions with God and in God, 
where we shall see Him, in His light we shall see the light. Thus it is — 
Christ says this very day : I am the Truth. Thus it is, He continues : 
There is one way that leads thither, to that end: I am the Way: I, My 
law and My Church. So it is, He repeats again, and there is one power 
to make your life worthy of this end: I am the Life. From Me, through 
My Church you shall obtain this grace, this life, and have it abundantly! 
Such is the doctrine of Jesus as it is taught, in all possible clearness, by 
the Church. Does your heart not burn within you? Should we not 
beg the Lord to abide with us, with this doctrine, to the hour of our death. 



446 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



And though it should become night all around us, and though the day 
of faith be setting through infidelity, doubt, and indifferentism — let 
us cry out for ourselves, for our children, for our families, for our ad- 
vanced youth, for our country: mane nobiscum, Domine, quoniam adves- 
perascit. And with this cry let us combine the oath of fidelity to the 
Church of the Risen Saviour. 

5. Verses 29-33. Jesus abides in glory. The disciples of Emmaus 
had urged Him: coegerunt eum. Now, He, the mysterious one, remains. 
He sits among them in the dwelling. Presently they discover some- 
thing which tears asunder the clouds which hover before the mysterious 
one: He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives them to eat. It was 
most probably the change of the bread into His body — communion, that 
intimate, miraculous union with Himself. He gives to those, contrite 
through love, and clinging in love to Him, the mysterious Bread, after 
He, the searcher of hearts, had purified their souls. 1 Now He disap- 
pears. But the disciples carry Him within their souls. With hearts on 
fire they return to Jerusalem. The assembled Apostles scarcely permit 
the disciples to utter a word before they themselves had related to the 
new-comers the apparition to Peter. And after the disciples of Emmaus 
had reported what had occurred on the way and how they had recog- 
nized Him in the breaking of the bread, then there stood, whilst they 
were still talking, the Risen Saviour again in the circle of the Apostles 
and of the Disciples: Pax vobis! Now it had become fully and entirely 
Easter. All brooks and streams of joy rushed together, like unto one 
roaring waterfall of jubilation: Alleluia: He is risen indeed; He will 
abide with us indeed ! 

We, too, have just witnessed how Jesus was first absent — and then, 
unknown, came in love, reproached in mildness, taught with clearness, 
and through His truths and doctrines desires to abide with us. But 
will He abide with us personally? With a jubilating Alleluia we say: 
Yes, He abides. And we point to the Easter-sacrament of the Altar. 
(The preacher should here intersperse quickly some remembrance of the 
Easter communion already received or still to be received.) W^e re- 
ceive Holy Communion in order that the coming, the teaching, the re- 
proaching, the blessing, and the redeeming Jesus may abide with us to 
the hour of our death. Every communion, and especially the paschal 
communion, is an immeasurable request: Mane nobiscum, Domine! 
W 7 hen the Lord speaks in the sixth chapter of St. John, in a marvelous 
manner, of Holy Communion, then we hear, over and over again, the 
words: I abide. I abide in him who receives and he in Me until the last 

1 Though, according to some exegetic writers, it may not have been communion, 
still it was a reference to it, an Agape, which is a commemoration of the true eucha- 
ristic banquet of love. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



day, and I shall raise him up on the last day in order that he may re- 
main in Me in his glorified soul and body. 

The Risen Jesus came today and passed us by. We experienced 
what the disciples of Emmaus experienced. And He the Risen Saviour 
gave us the divine assurance that He would remain with us and direct 
and consecrate our lives. Introdnxit nos Dominus in terrain fluentem 
lac et mel, Alleluia: et lex Dei semper in ore vestro: Alleluia (Introit of 
Feria II). Christ will keep His promise if we keep ours: to hear Jesus 
regularly in sermons — to receive Jesus regularly in Holy Communion 
and to associate with Christ during our lives. See the glorious Postcom- 
munio of Feria II. This sketch is a guidance for a selection and an 
elaboration. 

N.B. For the last point: Jesus abides in glory, which might also 
be treated alone, the most beautiful passage on the effects of Holy 
Communion might be exegetically considered : Sicut me misit vivens Pa- 
ter et ego vivo propter Patrem: et qui manducat me, vivet propter me. 
John 6: 58. 

The Father lives eternally, He has divine life of himself (John 
6: 58; see John 5 : 26). 

But the Father hath also given to the Son to have this life of 
Himself (this immeasurably glorious life), John 5:26. From all eter- 
nity this infinite divine life flows into the Son, Who lives by the 
Father. 

This divine life descended upon earth. Christ Jesus, sent by the 
living Father, has brought the divine life on earth. This divine life 
penetrates also the humanity of Christ and it deifies it, And the body 
and the soul are immeasurably beautiful in the Risen, glorified Christ, 
Who is entirely illuminated by the rays of the divinity, of this glorious 
divine life. 

And it is precisely this glorified, deified, but, at the same time, 
human flesh of Christ, that we received in communion and with it the 
entire glorified Christ. (John 6: 58.) 

As far as it is possible to a creature on earth, God, the Son of God, 
comes into us. The glorious divine life of Christ becomes within us a 
supernatural power of life: in me, ego in illo, vivet propter me. (See 
John 4:14.) Christ becomes within us the fons aquae vivae, salientis 
in vitam aeternam. As long as the species remain, the Risen glorified 
God-Man remains in us, and after this always through the glorious 
power of His chvinity. 

How effectively the abiding Christ operates upon our grace, our 
faith, our love, and our character! 



448 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 51. Eastertide 

1. Eastertide in its more limited and broader liturgical sense. 
We distinguish a twofold liturgical Eastertide, one more limited 
from Easter to Ascension, and one more extended to the end of 
the octave of Pentecost. (See above, pp. 173 and 250.) The octave 
of Easter itself, if considered from a certain view, closes on Low 
Saturday with the nones of the office : this might be called the con- 
clusion of the baptismal octave which, in ancient times, was opened 
on Easter-night, but now begins on Holy Saturday. (See § 43 : " The 
great night of the Lateran.") The proper dies octava of the feast 
of Easter, however, is Low Sunday. Yet, this Sunday has not 
the office of the octave of Easter, but the office of the Sunday, 
for Sunday was really the first Easter-celebration. Thus, Low 
Sunday appears with its Dominical-office, which, however, bears 
an entirely festive character as the prototype of all Sundays, as 
the first Dominical echo of the resurrection which resounds through- 
out all the Sundays of the year. (See § 52, I, p. 447.) 

The character of Easter appears likewise in all the parts of 
the office of Eastertide, which shines splendidly in all the festive 
joys of the resurrection, and partakes of the fundamental color of 
the time, which is the festive white. The feasts occurring after 
the octave also partake of Easter-joy, — especially the feasts of 
martyrs: dignum est ut post laetitiam Paschae, quam in Ecclesia 
celebravimus, gaudia nostra cum Sanctis Martyribus conferamus: et 
Us annuntiemus Dominicae resurrectionis gloriam, qui consortes sunt 
Dominicae passionis. (Sermo 22, St. Augustini I. Lectio II. Noc. 
de commune Martyrum, Tempore Paschali.) 

2. The combination of the Sundays and weeks of Eastertide. 
Of the Sundays and weeks after Easter, the first two look back- 
wards and are placed in the full glare of the Easter light. The 
three last look forward unto the feasts of the Ascension and of 
Pentecost. Here there is at once, with the solemn continuously 
persevering Easter joy, a tone of sadness raised over the miminent 
departure of the heaven-ascending Redeemer. The Church selects 
her Gospels, beginning with the third Sunday after Easter, from 
the addresses of the departing Saviour. But to the introduced 
tone of sadness over the coming departure of Christ, there is joined 
at once a voice of immeasurable confidence in the coming Holy 
Ghost, the Comforter. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



We will briefly sketch the Sundays and weeks as follows: 

A. Easter and the octave of Easter. The Risen Christ, His per- 
son and His work. 

B. Low Sunday. The Risen Christ, full of truth and of grace. 

(a) The author and the mover of our faith. (Gospel of the 
apparition to the Apostles and to Thomas.) 

(b) The author and the dispenser of grace. (The same Gospel, 
with the institution of Penance.) (John 29: 19-31.) 

C. The second Sunday after Easter. The Risen Christ, the 
Good Shepherd. (Gospel of the Good Shepherd, John 10: 11-16.) 

D. The third Sunday after Easter. Our leave-taking from the 
Risen Christ, Whom, however, men and humanity in general, see 
again "after a little while. " (John 16: 16-22, the Gospel of the 
"little while," taken from the parting addresses.) 

E. The fourth Sunday after Easter. Our consolation in the 
Risen Christ, Who sends the Holy Ghost, the Comforter of the 
Church, as Judge of the world. (John 16: 5-14.) 

F. The fifth Sunday after Easter. The last request of the part- 
ing Saviour made to us: Prayer. (John 16: 23-31.) 

G. The feast of the Ascension. Christ ascending into Heaven. 
After this general review we shall add, first, several plans for 
cycles of sermons for Eastertide, and then endeavor to grasp more 
completely, in the following paragraphs, the Sundays between 
Easter and Ascension. 

Themes. 1. A liturgic-homiletic cycle. The just described com- 
bination is very appropriate for a cycle of homilies or sermons in con- 
nection with the liturgy. 

In paragraphs 52 sqq. we shall develop and explain, in an exegetic 
manner, the various principal ideas of these liturgies (see p. 449 sqq.). 

2. A cycle on the glorious life of Christ. As remarked above, we 
shall propose, as a change for these Sundays, also an exegetic or homi- 
letic cycle on the apparitions and the operations of the Risen Saviour: 
on the glorious life of Jesus — to His ascension into heaven. 

3. An apologetic cycle on faith. Such a cycle on faith would be 
entirely in keeping with the spirit of the feast. But these sermons 
should be placed in the proper light of the Easter-tide, f .i. : 

Theme A. What is faith? (The definition of the Vat. Counc. s. 3, 
c. 30; see also p. 232 sqq., pp. 400, and 583.) 

Theme B. Who moves us to faith? (The Risen Christ: auctoritas 
Christi revelantis, qui nec falli nec fallere potest — Motivum fidei.) 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Theme C. Who directs our faith ? (The teaching office of the Church, 
which proposes whatever we must believe: regula fidei. This teaching 
office, this rule of faith, the last work of the Risen Lord, might also be 
proven from the conclusions of the four Gospels, in relation to the life 
of Jesus (see above, pp. 16, 17, consult especially pp. 400, 401, 402), Holy 
Saturday, and the homily for Easter Monday). 

Theme D. Wherein does the rule of faith appear? Wherever the 
concluding scenes and facts of the four Gospels are repeated. Wherever 
the last acts and the promises of Christ are renewed. At the end of 
the life of the Risen Christ we see the Apostles (and their successors) 
as teachers of the truth of Christ (Matthew), as proclaimers of the law 
of Jesus (Mark) , and as witnesses of the life of Jesus under the one shep- 
herd of the lambs and the sheep, whose office is the foundation rock and 
whose faith never fails. (Consult p. 17 sqq.) We behold these teachers, 
these proclaimers and witnesses commissioned by Christ, Who remains 
with them to the end of all days, to whom He has promised and sent 
the Spirit of the divine truth, of clarity and certainty. Where is this 
renewed? 

(a) in the ordinary teaching office of the Pope and of the bishops over 
the whole world; 

(b) in the general decisions and definitions of doctrine by all the 
bishops spread over the whole world in unity with the Pope; 

(c) in an Oecumenical Council. 

(d) in the solemn definitions (ex cathedra) of the Pope alone in 
matters of faith and morals (s. pp. 13-27). 

Themes E-K. Whatever has been developed by theme D, as a 
complete view, might also be treated, after Ascension and Pentecost, 
in a particular manner, through several sermons, f.i.: The ordinary 
teaching office. 

The council. The infallible teaching office of the Pope. The 
ordinary teaching office of the Pope. The care taken by the teaching 
office for the purity of faith (infallible doctrine of faith). Other official 
teaching activities of a higher or lower degree (f.i.: Syllabus; admoni- 
tions; f.i., the index). 

For the thematic series E-K we recommend most especially Willmer's 
epitomic Handbook of Religion in connection with Hurter's, Scheeben's, 
or Heinrich's Dogmatik; Willmer's Be Ecclesia; De Groot's Summa 
Apologetica. Consult also our Homiletic studies, pp. 13-27. 

Theme L. Must we believe? The necessity of faith, and this in 
several sermons. Sermon (a) How does Christ judge faith? Sermon (b) 
How do the Apostles judge faith? Sermon (c) How does the Church judge 
faith? (The Councils of Trent and the Vatican, p. 585.) 

Theme M. What must we believe? (Object of faith.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 451 

Theme N. Must we profess our faith? (Profession of faith.) 

Theme 0. How is faith begotten and maintained in the faithful ? (The 
genesis of faith.) 

Theme P. The life proceeding from faith. (Consult St. Paul's Letters 
to the Romans and to the Hebrews.) 

For this cycle we recommend especially the Moral-Theologies of 
Gopfert, Muller and Lehmkuhl: de fide and the Summa of St Thomas, 
II. II, de fide. Consult also Meyenberg, Aus der Apostelschule : Die 
Glaubensschule. (Luzern, Raber, 6, 1899.) Through such cycles 
the dogmatic feasts from Easter to Pentecost might be made very fruit- 
ful for a considerable time. 

A similar cycle might also be connected, in an appropriate manner, 
with the feast of SS. Peter and Paul. 

§ 52. Low Sunday 

The Risen Christ, full of Truth and of Grace 

Low Sunday may be regarded homiletically from a threefold 
view-point: As the octave of Easter, as the beginning of Easter- 
tide, and as the day of first communion. Its history, its celebra- 
tion as a Station, and its name we have already considered in the 
treatise on Easter night and of Low Sunday. (See p. 396 sqq. ; 
compare also p. 52.) 

I 

Low Sunday as the Octave of Easter 

After having expressed ourselves in §§ 43 and 51 in regard to 
the meaning of Low Sunday, we deem here a mere repetition of 
the central ideas sufficient. 

A. Dogmatic central thoughts. 

1. Christ, the author of our faith. 

2. Christ, the motive of our faith. (Motive of faith, also above, 
p. 401 sqq.) 

3. Christ, the motive of our faith: 

(a) Through the cross and the resurrection. 

(b) Through the institution of the sacraments. 

4. Christ, the dispenser of our grace. All these thoughts are 
contained in the Gospel of the day of the first apparition of the 
Risen Saviour, whereon He instituted the sacrament of Penance, 
and in the Gospel of the apparition to the Apostles and Thomas 
in their midst, eight days later. (See pp. 308 and 447.) 



452 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

B. Moral central ideas: A threefold peace: 

1. The peace of Easter: pax vobis! the peace of Easter in the 
world and in souls by the remission of sin (confession, contrition), 
in a good conscience created by contrition and confession and in 
the life of grace infused into the soul by Holy Communion, in union 
with Christ. (Compare the sermons on the Easter sacraments, 
p. 308 sqq., also § 44: The celebration of Easter on Holy Saturday, 
p. 403 sqq.) All this brings a complete peace of Easter. 

2. The peace of Sunday. Low Sunday is a type and a model 
of Sunday. (Compare § 45 : Easter, Historical remarks.) Every 
Sunday is a weekly commemoration of the Risen Saviour, a weekly 
echo of Easter. The celebration in honor of the Risen Son of God 
becomes, at the same time, a celebration in honor of the Father, 
Who sent and resurrected Him, and a celebration in honor of the 
Holy Ghost, Whom He sent to us as the last glorious gift of Easter. 
Such is the significance of Sunday in the eyes of faith. But the 
celebration of Sunday means for our moral life: rest, peace in 
God by abstaining from servile work, and still more: rest and 
peace in God through the mass, the sermon, the divine service, 
through a Christian life. Thus, the Sunday peace, the Sunday 
rest, becomes a religious benefit: sursum cordal it elevates man to 
God, — a moral benefit: it places ail men on an equal footing 
before God, it assembles all, the rich and the poor, all conditions 
and classes for the one interest in God and Christ, and dismisses 
them united in love, — a social benefit: Sunday shows that man 
is not a mere working machine, but the child and the friend of 
God. Spiritually and corporeally strengthened by the atonement 
of God, by the grace of God, and by God's word, man, coming from 
the altar on Sunday, returns to the week of working days. Every 
Sunday is a ray of Easter, of the terrestrial Easter, and of the 
eternal Easter in heaven. Low Sunday is a prototype and a model 
of this Sunday celebration. The octave of Easter, the echo of 
Easter — is Sunday, the Sabbath transferred to the day of the 
resurrection (p. 543). 

3. Eternal peace. Easter and the octave of Easter are likewise 
an image of the eternal Easter in heaven. The sacred intercourse of 
the disciples with the Risen Saviour, the light of truth which casts 
its illuminating rays upon the disciples and upon us and satisfies 
our intellect, the life of grace which flows from Him — the source 
of life — into humanity and makes it happy, the kingdom which 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the Risen Lord builds up from within and without amidst the jubi- 
lation of all mankind, the possession of Christ Himself which is 
now granted to humanity and which perseveres in the sacrament 
and in the Church — all this is a model, a prototype and a begin- 
ning of the eternal peace of heaven. (See P. Wenninger, Easter in 
Heaven, compare the oration of Easter, many Introits of Easter- 
week, also the dogmatic connection between grace and glory, 
communion and heaven, etc.) 

II 

Low Sunday, the Day of the First Holy Communion 

The first Holy Communion ought be for every congregation 
what the baptismal celebration was for the early Church. It is 
the day which the Lord hath made, a day of an immeasurable 
significance for children and adults. 

This is not the place to speak of the instruction to the first 
communicants and their training. The pastor of souls should 
regard this instruction and training in the same light as the early 
Church did the catechumenate : thus the pastor of souls will arrive, 
at once, at the practical conclusion that the whole congregation must 
be made interested herein. In considering Lent we often called 
special attention to this pastoral method. (See also p. 809.) 

Here it is also of great importance to designate the task of 
the preacher on Low Sunday. We recall to mind the following 
methodical hints: 

1. The exhortations on Low Sunday should not be a complete 
or rather an academic instruction on Holy Communion, for this 
has already been given. 

2. The exhortations on Low Sunday may emphasize some of 
the important points of instruction on Holy Communion and make 
them doubly fruitful to the children and grown persons, by giving 
them under some new touching historical points, either before or 
after communion, f.i. : "A word of Jesus on communion," — "The 
most glorious effect of Holy Communion," — "The effects of com- 
munion," — "Words of Jesus to the communicants," — "Before 
communion," — "What should I say to Jesus after communion?" 
— "With the Apostles at the Last Supper," — "Our gift in re- 
turn," — "The communion prayers are our greatest deeds," — • 
"What follows from the prayers of communion, for the first com- 



454 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

municants and for all communicants," — "The visit of the Lord 
within us," etc. 

3. The exhortations on Low Sunday might dwell on some of 
the important points of the liturgy of Easter, and make them fruitful 
to the people and the communicants. (Compare also: The great 
night in the Lateran — The Easter celebration on Holy Saturday 
— Easter — the Easter octave — Easter Monday (the disciples 
of Emmaus). 

4. The exhortation on Low Sunday may also have a prepon- 
erance of an ascetic or an emotional character. 

5. The exhortation on Low Sunday should present, finally, the 
entire central significance of the day to advantage to the children 
and to the people. (Compare: the liturgy of the day, the liturgy 
of Holy Saturday, and of Low Saturday.) 

Themes for discourses on Low Sunday. We shall give some plan, 
taken from various spheres: 

Theme A. Ideas taken from the Gospel of the disciple of Love (John, 
c. 6). Today there is a miraculous multiplication of bread. Today 
there is a miraculous walking of Christ in our midst. Today we cele- 
brate a miraculous coming of Christ into us. (According to John, c. 6; 
see also above p. 291.) 

Theme B. What does Christ now require of us? That which He 
required of the Apostles at their first Holy Communion: 

(a) Love (cum dilexisset suos usque in finem dilexit eos . . .); see 
above p. 364 sqq., 367 sqq. 

(b) Humility (in connection with the washing of the feet); see 
above p. 364 sqq. 

(c) Purity (again in connection with the washing of the feet, "To 
wash the feet," "To wash the tips of the fingers" (Lavabo) the smallest 
faults, to remove all the sins and all the faults through perfect contrition, 
through love). We must again approach baptismal purity as near as 
possible. An energetic exhortation to the congregation to join today 
in the celebration of these feelings. To celebrate today in such a manner 
as has been done for a long time! (See p. 365.) 

Theme C. What does Low Sunday create ? 

(a) A new fire of zeal. The communion instruction created a new 
fire of zeal by learning — by work and by words. Today, through Holy 
Communion, the Saviour Himself puts the fire of zeal, of which He wills 
that it burn, into our souls. All the people should today re-kindle a 
new Easter-fire of zeal. Specialize. (See above p. 399 sqq.) 

(b) A new light of faith. The instruction has already led you 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 455 



constantly deeper into faith. You will be led still deeper into truth. 
It was a holy explanation. Today the author and the mover of faith 
comes — Christ Himself. What does He think of faith? Views of the 
future, of life, of the workshop, of the office, the factory and of popular 
life, of parental care for new light of faith, etc. (See p. 400 sqq., com- 
pare p. 358; The symbol of the triangle.) 

(c) A new life of grace. The preparation during many weeks for 
first Holy Communion was a time of grace. It was said to the first 
communicants: ecce nunc tempus acceptabile, ecce nunc dies salutis. . . . 
Exhortamus vos, ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis (Epistle of the I 
Sunday of Lent) . Now Christ Himself appears, He is the life, the peren- 
nial fountain of life (John c. 6 and John c. 4: 14). We receive Holy Com- 
munion that we may never again die spiritually. Compare our exposi- 
tion of Holy Saturday, the ceremonies of which might form a basis for 
this exhortation. Every particular point might be also utilized inde- 
pendently for an exhortation, f.i. (see also p. 458 b.). 

Theme D. A new life. See above: Holy Saturday, p. 400, n. III. 
and especially Easter Monday, end of the homily. 

Theme E. What a grand act had already taken place among you, and 
what was the great deed which today took place in you? (Rom. 6.) 

(a) We have nailed the old man to the cross. Instruction has banished 
indifference. Examination of conscience, spiritual exercises, sacrifices 
which you imposed upon yourselves crucified the sinfulness of the 
old man. 

Another glowing, energetic invitation to the first-communion chil- 
dren and to the people to remove again, by perfect contrition, the last 
remnants, the last dust of the old man! 

(b) We have buried the old man through contrition and general con- 
fession. Encouragement to the people and a tender admonition to the 
first-communicants now to renew, during the sermon and at the offertory, 
the resolutions made in confession. A look into the past, into the first 
communion of the adults, a history of the resolutions of that day? This 
is the great act performed. Which is the greatest? 

(c) Now we shall arise with Jesus in the newness of life. Describe 
briefly and vividly the fruits of Holy Communion, or, at least, the 
principal fruits of Holy Communion in this light. The Risen Lord is 
alive. He enters personally within you. You live with and in Him. 
He establishes within your heart a . fountain of life, sanctifying grace. 
He plants within your soul the tree of life, holy and strong virtues. 
Never pollute this fountain of life. Never permit the tree of life ever 
to be felled by Satan. (Compare especially p. 162 sqq. on Rom., c. 6, 
and p. 403: Holy Saturday: New Life, or, under another historical 
view-point, the end of the homily on Easter Monday.) 



456 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Theme F. A lesson of catechism that should never be forgotten: "Holy 
Communion unites us most intimately with Jesus." Every word hereof 
is of more value than gold or precious stones. Today I wish to impress 
upon you this one word of the catechism: "Holy Communion unites 
us most intimately with Christ." 

(a) It unites us with Christ: St. John at the Last Supper — the 
Apostles during Easter-week. (Here unfold lively biblical and concrete 
descriptions, but do not adduce pale and emaciated loci communes.) 
Christ treats you in the same manner today: ego sum, Pax vobis. Si 
Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos ? 

Utilize and compare especially the Gospel of the day; after com- 
munion think: Jesus is with me. Thou mayest speak to Him, thank 
Him. He goes home with you. In ipso vivimus, movemur et sumus. 
Ego cum illo. 

(b) Holy Communion unites us most intimately with Christ. ' 'Most 
intimately" — consider this beautiful expression! 

(a) Jesus enters the soul. He lives not only beside and with thee, 
but in thee (see John, c. 6, above p. 404). 

(/?) Something of Christ remains in the soul: "The divine within 
us" grace, which the divine Jesus Himself protects and augments, aye, 
which He transforms into a paradise of grace (p. 370, p. 286). 

(y) Something of Jesus will remain in each one of the virtues. At 
baptism He sowed the supernatural virtues, like a seed, in the soul 
{virtus infusa). To all these virtues He brings today a springtime 
(Augmentum virtutum infusarum). Explain practically, f.i.; What 
about your obedience? Your diligence? Your purity? What about 
the future? and occasionally make applications suitable for the people. 

Theme G. A word of Jesus to the communicant: Et ego resuscitabo 
eum. 

(a) in the instructions for Holy Communion: the spirit. 

(0) in confession: the soul, 

(y) today: grace and the virtues of the soul, 

(S) on the last day: the body and the soul. 

Themes H. Thus a number of individual words of the sixth chapter 
of John, of the account of the Last Supper, of the conversation of Jesus 
with the Samaritan woman and with the disciples of Emmaus might 
be treated in separate sermons, f.i. : 

Theme A. Ego sum: nolite timere. (Walking upon the sea. John 
6: 16-21; Mark, 6: 47-56; Matt. 24: 23 sqq.) 

Through Holy Communion we walk securely, like Peter, held up 
by the hand of Jesus, over life's ocean. (John c. 6.) 

(a) Jesus holds us. This we can do without sinking. Jesus within 
us: vivo jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(P) Jesus saves us from sinking. 

(y) Jesus leads us to the shores of eternity. 

Theme B. Operamini non cibum, qui periet, sed qui permanet in 
vitam aeternam. John 6: 27, 28, 29. (The bread of ashes of Elias — 
our bread of life.) 

Theme C. Our manna. John 6: 31, 32, 49-53. 

Theme D. Pants Dei; qui de coelo descendit. John 6: 23. 

Theme E. Panis vitae: ego sum panis vitae. John 6: 35 sqq. 

Theme F. Qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem y 
habet vitam aeternam (initium in terra) et ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo 
die (complementum in coelis). 

Theme G. A word from Jesus and a word from thee. (Conversation 
with the Samaritan woman. John, c. 4.) 

(aa) A word from Jesus. Da mihi bibere! (John 4: 7.) Describe 
the circumstances of John 4: 7. Christ being fatigued — thirsts, but 
His thirst seeks something higher. He wishes to gain immortal souls. 
Thus He also appears today at the communion-railing : da mihi bibere ! 
After what does Christ thirst? After your soul — after your faith — 
after your love — after your sacrifices, after your self-control — ameliora- 
tion of your life — all this offer to Jesus thirsting. (Specialize ! See 
pp. 285, 286.) 

(bb) A word from thee. The Samaritan woman also desires a drink 
from Jesus. With her we also say to Jesus: da mihi bibere: da mihi 
hanc aquam. (John 4: 15.) Jesus gives us in the Holy Sacrament of 
the Altar today a similar answer to that which He gave to the Samaritan 
woman at Jacob's well: Si scires donum Dei et quis est, qui dixit tibi: 
da mihi bibere, tu forsitan petiisses ab eo et dedisset tibi aquam vivam 
(John 4: 10). By the instructions you have been taught to know the 
great gift of God — the day of your first communion. By the instruc- 
tions you have been taught to know Jesus Himself, the Son of God, 
Who thirsts after your souls. Therefore you, and all of us, must say to 
Jesus today — on Low Sunday: "Give us to drink." "Give us the 
living water." "Give us this great gift of God." For what therefore 
do we ask? 

(a) We ask for the Saviour Himself. We know Who He is. We 
also know that He wishes to come: Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso (Apoc. 
2: 20). Therefore we hesitate not to say: Give us Thy flesh as food 
and Thy blood as drink for the soul: Da mihi bibere. Quemadmodum 
desiderat cervus ad fontem aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad Te Deum. 
Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum: quando veniam et apparebo 
ante faciem Dei? Describe, f.i., the joyful procession, the song of 
the longing of the candidates of baptism, who once marched on 
Easter-night to the chapel of baptism and thence to Holy Communion. 



458 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(See above, p. 391 sqq., p. 396 sqq.) With such sentiments you must 
likewise proceed to Jesus. Quando apparebo? After a few moments! 
St. Ambrose once requested the faithful to come to the religious instruc- 
tions, to hear and read the Bible. He said to them: Bibe poculum 
"ceteris et novi testamenti: Drink the cup of the Old and of the New Testa- 
ment, for out of both cups ye drink Christ. He is the rock of the Hving 
waters. Aye, drink Christ! By this he means that through the instruc- 
tions you drink in, as it were, the truths of Christ: Jesus is the fountain 
of truth. By the long course of instructions you have also been drinking 
from the holy cups of the catechism and the Bible. You have drunk 
the truth of Christ. Now you shall not merely drink the truths of Christ. 
But after a few moments, you shall likewise eat His flesh and drink His 
blood. He Himself will come to you : the omnipotent God — as food 
and as drink for your soul. This good fortune is absolutely indescribable. 
This day cannot be sufficiently appreciated. Call out to Christ: Give 
us to drink! Give us Thyself,. Thy flesh and Thy blood. (An appeal 
to all the people to celebrate together this day by a spiritual communion 
and by the paschal communion.) You receive communion. . You re- 
ceive, in very truth, the drink of Christ: Christ Himself. "You are most 
intimately united with Christ. (Catechism.) Here you may also 
introduce, into the trend of these thoughts, a prayer for communion: 
A desire and longing for Jesus to come! What should we do then? 
Nothing, but pray again as did the Samaritan woman: Give us to drink. 
What kind of drink? 

(fi) We ask for His innumerable graces. We address the Saviour 
Who comes into our souls and says: Give us to drink! Give us the 
living water! And the Saviour answers: "Oh, if thou but knewest the 
gift of God." (John 4: 10). I have indeed innumerable graces, my grace 
is great beyond all greatness. What shall we ask of Him? 

(aa) Give us the living waters of sanctifying grace. Jesus is the author 
of grace, the very source of all grace. Jesus is in the soul after commun- 
ion. We receive not only grace from Jesus. After communion we possess 
the source of all grace. He said to the Samaritan woman: Aquam quam 
ego dabo ei, est fons aquae. (John 4: 14.) After communion implore 
the Saviour thus: Now Thou art in my soul! Thou knowest the one 
thing I always stand in need of ! One thing I should never lose : sancti- 
fying grace. I was permitted to receive Holy Communion that Thou 
Thyself may est come — the fountain of grace. From this fountain 
water always bubbles forth, fresh streams always flow therefrom unto 
us. At this fountain a new spring spreads and prospers and flourishes. 
Such a fountain, a divine fountain, Thou art in me. Thou desirest to 
preserve that which is most beautiful in me — the grace of God. Where 
the fountain of grace is, there grace is never diminished. Thou desirest 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 459 



likewise to augment the gift of God, sanctifying grace in me. From 
this fountain of grace, grace flows upon grace. But above all grant that 
we may never die spiritually, that we never fall into another mortal 
sin! Only through mortal sin does the fountain of grace dry up. On 
account of this Thou lea vest the soul. Only through mortal sin do we 
drive Jesus away, Who through communion comes with His grace. And 
Jesus comes solely for the purpose that sanctifying grace, the life of 
Jesus, may abide with us. The preacher should thus raise these thoughts 
to a most touching appeal of the first communicants and of the people: 
Mane nobiscum, Domine, fons vitae. He should lead the appeal on to 
an oath of fidelity: Never another mortal sin! He should depict the 
glory of the first communicants, aye, of the whole parish, who for ever, 
and at all cost, desire to remain in sanctifying grace. (Frequent con- 
fession and communion, every evening perfect contrition, perfect con- 
trition at the beginning of mass; a resolution: No betrayal of Christ!) 
Again the first communicants and with them the people should cry out: 

{fip) Give us the living waters of all graces of communion. 

(aaa) The living waters, which cleanse us from evil inclinations. 
(Holy Communion purifies us from all evil inclinations.) 

(/3/3/3) The living waters, which strengthen the power for good in us, 
as all things grow and flourish near a pure fountain, thus all virtues be- 
gin to grow and to flourish at the fountain of communion. Aye, if we 
sincerely wish it, we may plant a whole paradise of a Christian life. 
(Communion gives us strength to do good.) 

(yyy) The living waters, which wash away the dust from our 
feet, i.e., the venial sins. (Communion cleanses and preserves us from 
venial sin.) Our souls then become like a secure and strong island, 
surrounded by an ocean of grace. (Communion preserves us against 
mortal sin. Cf. (fi) and (a). The preacher may make a selection.) 

(7) We ask that He abide in us with all His grace. And this prayer 
is heard by Jesus. He says Himself: He that eateth my flesh and 
drinketh my blood abide th in Me and I in him, and I will raise him upon 
the last day. This is the greatest of all blessings. Did you hear what 
He promises the first-communicants? I will abide until the day of 
death — until the day of judgment. Even more — Jesus says: The 
communicant hath life everlasting. Wherever Jesus is — there is heaven. 
We receive Him in Holy Communion. Now Jesus is still veiled. In 
heaven we shall see Him in His whole glory. But Jesus is already here. 
Communion is the beginning of heaven. Never forget this. Often 
have we said today: The Saviour speaketh to us as He did once to the 
Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. Listen to His words addressed to 
the communicants: Aqua quam dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquae salientis 
in vitam aeternam. When I enter into your hearts with My grace 



4 6o HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



there springs up a fountain therein. And from this fountain there 
flows a stream. And this stream flows into the very heaven, unto 
life eternal. And the bark of our life sails upon this stream of grace 
until it reaches heaven. The stream of grace flows also through the 
abyss of death. Then grace is changed into glory, into the glory of 
heaven. Behold how communion, how all communions, produce a 
stream of grace upon which, as in a safe bark, we sail through all the 
crevices and the abysses of temptation, until we reach heaven itself. 
Is not this first communion a beginning of heaven? Will you all direct 
the bark of your life toward the stream of this grace which flows into 
heaven? This is done by frequent communion. (Communion is a 
pledge of a glorious resurrection and of eternal happiness). Here is 
therefore the answer of Jesus to our petition: Give me to drink! Should 
we not strive to do all, all that we can, that we, too, may present the 
living waters of our faith, of our love, and of our sacrifices to the great 
divine Jesus, Who Himself thirsts for our soul? May the few moments, 
which still separate you from His coming, finally prepare your gifts and 
your hearts. The prayers, however, before and after communion, are 
the golden sacrificial vessels in which you should present to the Saviour, 
Who thirsts, the noblest and the best you possess. (Here the homilist 
may make a selection.) 

Themes I. Thoughts culled from the liturgy of Low Saturday and 
Low Sunday. Here there is garnered a positively inexhaustible wealth. 
The passages which refer to Easter baptism and the paschal communions 
of ancient times might, in all justice, be applied to the first communi- 
cants and to the co-celebrating people. We thus act entirely according 
to the spirit of the Church which offers us, through the liturgy, not a 
liturgical petrifaction, but a real fountain of life. 

Theme A. The joyful first communicants and the people. Eduxit 
Dominus populum suum in exultatione, alleluia et electos suos in laetitia, 
alleluia, alleluia. (Introit of Low Saturday.) 

1. The joy of the first communicants, of the elect {decti in laetitia). 

2. The joy of the people. (Populos in exultatione on Low Sunday.) 

Theme B. The admonition of the first Pope to the first communi- 
cants (from the Epistle of Low Saturday, I Pet. 2), or admonitions 
of the Church to the first communicants. Compare a thematic 
homily. 

(a) Carissimi: Dearly beloved: The beloved of Jesus, of the Church, 
of the parents, of the pastor, of the congregation are precisely the first 
communicants. 

(b) Deponentes omnem malitiam: No malice of mortal sin. Renew 
again the fruit of your confession (general confession, spiritual exercises) 
through your resolution: no malice, no malice of mortal sin shall ever 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 461 



again enter into your soul. An echo in the parish which should renew 
the baptismal vows with the first communicants. 

(c) Et omnem dolum, et simulationes et invidiae, etc. No more 
deliberate faults! remove and deplore once more all characteristic 
faults, all venial sins: for the moment cleanse yourselves, as far as is 
possible to humanity, from every speck of dust of sin. An encourage- 
ment to the whole parish! (p. 364 sqq.). 

{d) Rationabile sine dolo lac concupiscite sicut modo geniti infantes. 
Learn above all your religion. You have cast away sin. You are chil- 
dren born to another entirely new life. Crave after unadulterated 
spiritual milk. You have received the unadulterated spiritual milk 
through the instructions for first communion. Your first desire should 
now be: the word of God, the pure, unadulterated doctrine of the Holy 
Church of God. As children are nourished by milk, so the Christian 
is nourished by the word of God. Man liveth by every word that cometh 
from the mouth of God. The preacher should convince the first com- 
municants and the people that Christ's first command is: Remain 
faithful to My truth, to My Catholic Church. Here he might intro- 
duce the oath of fidelity to the Pope, to the Church, to the bishop, to 
Christian instruction, to sermons, in some powerful and striking word. 
(Compare as an antithesis p. 26, n. 6.) 

(e) Ut in eo crescatis in salutem: si tamen gustastis, quoniam dulcis 
est Dominus. Grow, therefore, in religion. The first communion instruc- 
tion is the beginning. From this there must grow a pious, a noble, and 
a Christian life (concrete applications). In the instructions you have 
learned to know Jesus. In holy confession you have learned to know 
Him better. Today you will really learn to know Him perfectly. You 
will taste how sweet the Lord is, how lovely and fortunate it is to be 
united with Him; to possess a good conscience in the presence of Jesus; 
to receive Jesus into the soul. It would be treason to abandon Jesus 
again. To go backwards is never permitted. Grow and increase with 
and in Jesus. (Show, by the one or other application, how to grow.) 

if) Ad quern accedentem lapidem vivum ab hominibus reprobatum, a 
Deo autem electum et honorificatum: et ipsi tanquam lapides vivi super- 
aedificamini, domus spiritualis, sacerdotium sanctum, of ere spirituales 
hostias, acceptabiles per Jesum Christum. Let your religion take deep 
root. This will be done today, in a few moments. 

(a) Accedentes ad Jesum lapidem vivum. You approach Jesus. 
He is the Hving stone, the foundation stone of your religious life. No 
one can place another foundation save that which is laid — Jesus Christ. 
Deep, deep down into your soul the sacred host is descended: Christ 
Jesus Himself. The Jews once rejected this Jesus, this Hving stone : How 
terrible was their punishment! 



462 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(P) Superaedificamini ipsi tanquam lapides vim: Be ye also as 
living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy temple as Christ Jesus. 

(aa) He who lives by faith, who lives according to the principles 
of faith, builds himself up upon Christ Jesus. You now possess the 
author and the source of grace. It remains for you to be of one mind 
with Him (toward your parents — in school — in the temple — in the 
depth of your hearts.) 

(y) Of ere spirituales hostias. Offer up spiritual sacrifices. The 
priest offers daily the real host, Jesus Christ. You may daily offer 
spiritual hosts. Thus you become like priests. (The preacher might 
here point out, from the rich field of dutiful and recommendable morti- 
fications, some practical examples and plans for the children and the 
grown people.) 

The admonition of the first Pope might be given in a concentrated 
form to the first communicants — deponere, concupiscere, crescere, 
super aedijicari. It might be better to make a short selection from these 
exegetical explanations. 

Theme C. The honor of the communicants. (From the same Epistle 
of Low Sunday.) The first communicants and the whole congrega- 
tion receiving Holy Communion become in these days 

(a) through confession, from a non populus, a populus Dei, from 
non consecuti misericordiam Dei, a misericordiam Dei consecuti. 

(/?) through communion: a genus electum, a gens sancta, a regale 
sacerdotium. 

Theme D. The apparitions of Jesus on this day to the Apostles — a 
type of communion (Gospel of Low Sunday). Who is it that comes? 

(a) Jesus comes: venit Jesus et stetit in medio — the presence of Jesus. 

(b) The risen Jesus comes: pax vobis. (United with Jesus in faith, 
in grace, the light, the life of the Risen One, peace with God, peace of 
conscience, peace with all men, the peace of Jesus.) 

(c) Jesus comes with His wounds. Jesus Who on Good Friday passed 
over the fourteen Stations and died for you on Calvary! A retrospect. 
Love, a return of love, a love of sacrifice: the atonement of Jesus. 

Theme E. The apparition to Peter (contrition), to Thomas (faith), 
to Mary Magdalen (the Rabboni-cry of a faithful love — love), etc., 
these might be developed into similar exhortations. 

Theme K. The final question to the communicants in connection 
with the final question of the Risen Jesus in the last Gospel, John 21 : 15). 
Lovest thou me? More than sin? more than the world? more than 
men? more than thyself? more than all? 

Theme L. Taken from the prayer of the Church on Low Sunday (secreta) . 
The offering of the Church rejoicing (munera exultantis ecclesiae). 

(a) Christ is Himself the paschal offering (causa tanti gaudii). In 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 463 



this offering the Church may well say rejoicingly: Suscipe, Domine, 
munera exultantis ecclesiae. (Regard the essence of the sacrifice of the 
mass as the paschal sacrifice.) 

(b) The first communicants are the paschal offering. At this offering 
the first communicants and the entire congregation must see to it that 
the Church may say rejoicingly: Accept, oh Lord! the offering of Thy 
Church rejoicing. 

(a) You have seen to it. (Instruction, confession, and ameliora- 
tion.) 

(/?) See to it still. (Preparation for communion.) 

(y) See to it in the future. (Resolutions in regard to communion.) 
Suscipe, Domine, munera exultantis ecclesiae. 

Theme M. Combine several Introits of Easter-week with these 
Easter thoughts. 

Literature: We recommend Schmitt's Erstkommunikantenunter- 
richt (p. 280 sqq.) Predigtskizzen fur den Weissen Sonntag. Many 
of these sketches might be made more productive by thoughts taken 
from the liturgy of Easter, from the offices and the masses of Low 
Saturday and Low Sunday. Kurze Anreden zur Vorbereitung auf den 
Weissen Sonntag von Mgr. J. Zapletel, Graz 1899. Anreden am Weissen 
Sonntag von Conrad Sickinger. Die Feier der ersten Kommunion, 
von H. Nagelschmidt, Paderborn, 1894. Especially also A. Blaettler, 
Manna in der Wuste, also Psalm 118, Eucharistisch erklart, von 
Dr. Schmitt. Kosterus, Das letzte Jahr vor dem grossten Tag im 
Leben der Kinder. 

§ 53. The Second Sunday after Easter 

The Risen Christ — the Good Shepherd 

We will consider this Sunday more extensively, for two reasons, 
though we thereby might run the risk of repeating several ideas. 
The first reason is, because many preachers often omit to impress, 
in an effective manner, the sentiments of Easter which predominate 
in the liturgy during the whole Eastertide upon the people. And 
secondly, because we too readily lose sight of the fact that this 
Sunday presents, as it were, a concentration of Holy Week and 
Easter-week under entirely new view-points. Besides, many trends 
of thoughts are suitable for the following Sundays. 

I. The Keynote of the Sunday. Continuous Easter Joy 

Everything is surrounded by the joyful and festive Easter light. 
The Invitatorium solemnly announces it: The Lord is truly risen, 



464 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Alleluia! Come, let us adore Him! The hymn intones an Easter 
song to Him Who is regenerated through the grave, and calls from 
the grave to resurrection. He is the eternal Shepherd of the flock, 
Who cleanses His sheep through baptism (and penance), which is 
a spiritual bath and the grave of sin (hymn of matins) . The purple 
light of the morning dawn, the Easter jubilation of the universe, 
the exultation of the redeemed world, and the trembling of the 
lower regions — these are in honor of Him Who leads, as the eternal 
Victor, the fathers from the abyss of limbo, in holy procession, 
upwards: patrum senatum liberum educit ad vitae jubar. (Hymn 
of lauds.) A sealed stone and a cohort of guards watch at His 
grave. But He triumphs as a victor, and buries death within its 
own grave. 

Sat funeri, sat lacrymis, 
Sat est datum doloribus 
Surrexit extinctor necis, 
Clamat coruscans angelus. 

What a glorious jubilation this hymn of lauds contains! The 
rising of the sun of the spring morning is a type of the Risen Christ. 
The preacher might use one or more of the rays of this Easter joy 
to illumine his discourse. The Sundays after Easter should not 
appear as days devoid of a festive character. The celebration of 
death, of the tears of the grave and of parting is past. The Risen 
Lord is Victor over death. The resplendent angel of Easter sends 
forth an immense cry of jubilation into the space of the universe, 
the xALleluia — and into the quiet chambers of the feelings of those 
newly born from the bitter death of sin Jesus drips the joy and the 
peace of Easter. (Compare again the hymns.) The conclusions 
of the nocturns announce the resurrection again to the whole uni- 
verse, to the Church, to all souls — to the legions of worlds and 
all solar systems, to the hosts of the Church, and to the army of 
those who have been pardoned in the Church: Alleluia, the stone 
is rolled back, Alleluia, from the opening of the grave, Alleluia ! — 
He is risen from the grave, Alleluia. He who hung upon the wood, 
Alleluia! (I. nocturn.) Alleluia, whom seek you, Alleluia — the 
living among the dead? Alleluia, Alleluia! The Lord is risen 
indeed, Alleluia — and appeared to His own, Alleluia! (II. noc- 
turn.) Alleluia, weep no more, Mary, for the Lord is risen, Alle- 
luia! And the disciples rejoiced, Alleluia, for they had seen the 
Lord, Alleluia. Thus, the cry of joy is increased. (III. nocturn.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 465 



Like sheaves of light and Easter lightning they flare up in all parts 
of the office, but in the lauds, at the end of the third Psalm, imme- 
diately before the Benedicite, the whole latent Easter jubilations 
break forth in immeasurable joy, and they terminate like a cataract 
of jubilation into a blessed ninefold Alleluia! We have here pur- 
posely focused these joyful rays of the breviary to remind the 
preacher not to exclude from his sermons on the Sundays after 
Easter the mighty accents of joy, and to present all his instructions 
upon the festive golden background of Eastertide. This, according 
to temperament and character, can be done in many various ways. 
But no one should hold himself aloof from the exalted feeling of 
the Church on these days! True, according to the present litur- 
gical development, the pure character of Easter of the mass and 
of the office is somewhat impaired by the oft concurring feasts. 
Surely the immense richness of this time ought to find its full expres- 
sion in the pure {propter festivitatem possibly somewhat shortened) 
Dominican office from Easter to Pentecost! We hope a new litur- 
gical development will soon be given us, which will privilege all 
the Sundays of Eastertide, so that they might displace the most of 
the concurring feasts. 

II. Development of this Sunday. Thoughts on Easter and 

Holy Week 

1. The Risen Lord. On the golden background of the just 
intoned Easter joys the Church introduces the uniqueness of the 
Sunday of the Good Shepherd. 

First, she represents the Risen Lord, in general, as the center 
and the sun of sacred history, then, as the center and the sun of 
the circle of the disciples which is formed around the Risen Christ. 

The first nocturn furnishes us a grand address on the resurrec- 
tion, taken from Holy Scripture, from the sermon of St. Paul deliv- 
ered in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia. (Acts of the Apostles, 
c. 13: 12-33; see a l so > 33 — 52.) The entire education and direction 
of Israel tends toward the Risen Jesus, Who thus becomes the 
Shepherd and the Light of all people unto the utmost bounds of 
the earth. The Risen Christ stands in the center of history, as the 
•illuminating sun. These are the main ideas of that address of the 
Apostle. (Pedagogics in reference to and in the spirit of the Risen 
Lord. See p. 103-144.) 

The second nocturn offers an address on the resurrection, taken 



466 HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



from Christian tradition: Sermo S. Leonis Papae (de Ascensione 
Domini post initium). It depicts the building and the construc- 
tion of the kingdom of Jesus from within and from without, by- 
Jesus the great Shepherd Himself. Leo recounts the direction and 
the education of the disciples by Jesus. Paul spoke of an educa- 
tion directed to Christ, here the education of the Risen Christ is 
itself described: Hi dies, qui inter resurrectionem Domini A seen- 
sionemque fiuxerunt non otiose transiere decursu, sed magna in eis 
confirmata sunt sacramenta: magna sunt revelata mysteria. During 
the forty days after the resurrection Christ completes the edifice 
of His Kingdom. He gathers the living building-stones of the 
Apostles, which during His Passion had fallen apart, and brings 
the building of the Church to its completion, as is described in a 
grand manner in the concluding parts of the four Gospels. In Us 
(diebus) per insufflationem Domini infunditur Apostolis Spiritus 
Sanctus: et Beato Apostolo Petro supra ceteros post regni claves 
ovilis Domini cura mandatur. Thus, we see in the second nocturn, 
in grand outlines, the heavenly Architect, Christ Jesus at His last 
work — at the completion of His Kingdom. We see the Good 
Shepherd, Christ Jesus, how He establishes His vicar on earth, 
and through him the papacy, and introduces this into the world 
as the future shepherd of the lambs and of the sheep. In the 
midst of the paschal time and Easter joy the kingdom of Christ 
appears hi constantly more defined and clearer outlines. The 
Risen Lord desired not merely to diffuse a few ingenious ideas 
throughout the world, but to guarantee the deposit of His truths 
by His Holy Church, which is illumined by the Holy Ghost and 
directed by a papacy selected and created by Himself. The glori- 
ous kingdom of Christ is, however, above all, also a kingdom from 
within. The second and the third lessons of the second nocturn 
describe the same in thoughtful and manifold new and fresh-colored 
sketches. Flammarum fidei illuminata corda concipiunt. We re- 
ceive the fire of faith from the Risen Saviour and His Church — a 
clear definite exposition of God and of His ways. Every article 
of faith and each dogma is a spark of the Easter fire, of Christ. 
Christ is the corner-stone. Upon Him the foundation of the Church 
rests. From this corner-stone — Christ — from Him Who is truth- 
itself, Who cannot deceive or be deceived, the teaching office of 
the Church draws the new fire of truth. Every solemn decision 
of the Pope or of a council is newly struck fire from the corner- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 467 



stone — Christ. And the ordinary teaching office of the Church, 
which speaks to us through papal decisions and writings, through 
the bishops and the preachers sent by them, carries this new fire, 
the new light — like the deacon of Holy Saturday — into the 
temples of human souls. The teaching office of the Church is 
likewise the living Saviour Who accompanies us over and over 
again on the way of our lives as He did the disciples of Emmaus: 
Tertius in via Dominus comes adjungitur ad omnem nostram ambi- 
guitatis caliginem detergendam. From these and similar words of 
Leo, Catholic faith speaks to us most inspiringly. This real Cath- 
olic sentiment ought be awakened in us, in all its freshness, during 
these Easter days by solid arguments taken from dogma. The 
just sketched lessons of the breviary indicate new ways for this 
purpose. The obscure places of the world receive from Christ the 
Easter fire of faith. Into the lukewarm and indolent hearts, 
however, the Easter fire of zeal enters: corda, quae sunt tepida 
resonante Scripturas Domino efficiuntur ardentia. These days of 
Easter, and especially all of the glorious Easter scenes taken from 
Holy Scripture which the preacher ought now and then intersperse, 
bring men out from their commonplace and lackadaisical way: 
nonne cor nostrum ardens erat, dum loqueretur in via et aperiret nobis 
Scripturas? No time is more suitable for renewed religious zeal 
than Easter: etenim Pascha immolatus est Christus. The old man 
is crucified and buried. We walk with the Risen Lord in the new- 
ness of life: for sin there is no more room. (Rom., c. 6.) What 
is the intention of the Risen Lord? Ignem veni mittere in ten am et 
quid volo nisi ut accendatur. The fact of Easter and the actions of 
Christ on Easter are so full of life, of fire, and of power, so com- 
pletely and entirely spring-like, that the preacher may find therein 
the most splendid reasons and forces capable of rekindling once 
more the fire of zeal. The obligations of Sunday toward God and 
the duties of the various vocations in the world afford two great 
spheres whereon the preacher might turn the Easter fire. Every 
Sunday is an Easter feast, an echo of Easter. Whoever experi- 
ences a spark of real Easter fire within himself will readily be able 
to present the Sunday mass as a sacrificial fire of gratitude for the 
Easter act of Christ. The preacher ought attempt, f.i., to present 
the Easter celebration of Sunday and of the Sunday mass as a 
continued Easter celebration, in a dogmatically correct manner, 
and bring home to his hearers a resolution for life to fulfil the 



468 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Catholic obligations of Sunday with an exceptional fidelity — bar- 
ring extraordinary reasons of excuse — as a return service for the 
Easter act of Christ. Upon such a background the ordinary 
Catholic duties are more readily perceived. There they receive 
again the great ideal background which protects them best against 
a careless depreciation in a commonplace life. The fire of the 
Risen Saviour should likewise penetrate the duties of the various 
stations in life, and urge the Christian mightily to be a new man 
therein, more active and faithful. Thus, from the second nocturn, 
the Easter flame of faith and of the Easter fire of new zeal flares up. 
Eastertide nears its end. The Easter sacraments have reconciled 
the congregation with Christ, and converted and transformed it. 
Now there is question of preserving this holy flame and this burning 
fire. Many preachers fail because their ideas and their admoni- 
tions are so quickly disconnected from all Easter ideas. (See Holy 
Saturday, p. 398 sqq., and as an antithesis, p. 358 sqq., n. d. See 
p. 448 sqq.) 

2. The Risen Saviour — the Good Shepherd. In a general pic- 
ture of the Risen Saviour the Church paints today an image of the 
Good Shepherd. She puts the words of Our Lord, John 10, upon 
the lips of the Risen Saviour. Among the most favorite images of 
the Church are the images of the Risen Saviour and of the Good 
Shepherd. The image of the Risen Saviour occurs time and again 
in the ancient catacombs. The picture of the Good Shephere 
greets us, over and over again, in the same ancient Christian caves. 
The devotion to the Good Shepherd was, if we may use the expres- 
sion, the Christ-devotion of most ancient Christian times, the 
favorite devotion of the catacombs, whither the ravenous wolves 
had driven the flock of Christ. And, oh, how necessary for our 
days of most marked contradictions is the Good Shepherd! The 
Gospel of the Good Shepherd, in the light of Easter, is a most 
appropriate message of the Risen Saviour for our days. 

Ego sum Pastor Bonus. Bonus Pastor animam suam dat pro 
ovibus suis. How true is this expression of the Risen Redeemer! 
He stands before us, in the splendor of His glorification. He shows 
us the now glorified wounds of His hands and His feet. He en- 
courages us to place our hand into His side. He wishes to tell 
us: I am the Redeemer of Good Friday. Then He had put His 
life into the scales of divine justice. Sin abounded. The one side 
of the scale was more than filled by the faults and the sins and the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



469 



crimes of humanity. But the weight of His life, which He gave 
for us, was greater: it was a divine-human weight; it was not 
merely a weight of a human value: grace abounded more than 
sin. There the Good Shepherd tore the handwriting that was 
against us. He extinguished it with His blood; removed it from 
our midst and nailed it to the cross. On the cross He gave us, as 
a gift, the fountain of life and the sacraments, which ever since 
then have dispensed life to us, the second, supernatural life, from 
the cradle to the grave. Those who are dead through sin drink 
of this fountain after having fulfilled the penitential requirements 
of Christ, and become alive again (the sacraments of the dead). 
Those living in grace drink of this fountain in order to preserve 
life, that life may remain within them, and that they have it more 
abundantly: Aqua, quam ego dabo ei, fiet in eo fons aquae salientis 
in vitam aeternam. (John 4: 14; see John 10: 10.) The wounds 
of the Risen Saviour invite us to look backwards. Joy, liberty, 
honor, justice, health, love, life, and all He had lost on the way of 
the Cross — may He therefore not say: Ego sum pastor bonus; 
bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis? The glory of the 
Risen Saviour invites us to look into the future: To millions the 
Good Shepherd has brought the second life, after having first given 
His own for them. If the millions were ever to meet the Good 
Shepherd during their lives, were to sing Him a song of gratitude, 
• — if all the churches since the days of the catacombs, when 
the image of the Good Shepherd was painted in the apses of the 
subterranean halls, and from the days when Rome, through St. 
Pudentiana, founded, in the palace of the senator Pudens, one of 
the most ancient churches under the title of The Good Shepherd 
— if, I repeat again, all the churches with their baptismal fonts, 
their altars and their confessionals, could speak, what a mighty, 
irresistible canticle in honor of the Good Shepherd this would create : 
animam suam dat pro ovibus suis! Fancy all that the words: reli- 
gion, grace, life, love, and peace contain — and yet, all this is but 
a ray of the Good Shepherd. Those flames of fire of which we 
spoke above, break forth from His Heart. The first communion 
day of the children, a well-made general confession, the return of 
a long wandering sinner, a magnanimous and faithful life which 
draws its strength repeatedly from the fountain of the Good Shep- 
herd — all, all this confirms the one word : animam suam dat pro 
ovibuss uis. And what urged Him to do all this? His love: " With 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



a baptism of blood I must be baptized," thus He spoke before 
His Passion, "and how I long to receive it!" When, therefore, 
at the end of His life He transferred the exalted pastoral office 
upon His Vicar — Peter — He asked him thrice, in the quiet of 
an early morn on the lake of Genesareth: Simon, lovest thou Me? 
And to him that loved He then committed the lambs and the 
sheep. What the Pope is to the universal Church, that, in his 
own manner, is the pastor to the parish. The parish should be 
convinced that it receives from the Catholic priest supernatural 
life : life which Christ brought, and with it all the gifts of the Good 
Shepherd. Therefore, confidence and obedience of the parish are 
of a most serious obligation. But as seriously does Christ ask the 
priest: Lovest thou me? Parish and pastor should today answer 
from their whole hearts: Good Shepherd, Thou knowest that we 
love Thee! The Gospel gives the pastor an opportunity to open 
his heart and to paint, in a few sketches, the immense responsibility 
of his office in regard to the parish, and he should invite the same 
to unite itself, through Him, to the Good Shepherd. For, in all 
things the pastoral office seeks not itself, but solely the Good 
Shepherd, as is beautifully said today at the end of the Epistle, 
when Peter, to whom the Good Shepherd, Christ Jesus Himself, 
committed the lambs and the sheep, cries out: You were as sheep 
going astray : but you are now converted to the pastor and bishop 
of your souls (Christ Jesus). St. Paul expresses this idea still 
more forcibly: All things are yours (at your disposal for the sal- 
vation of your souls) — whether it be Paul (i.e., the episcopal 
office), or Apollo (i.e., the sacerdotal co-laborers), or Cephas (i.e., 
Peter, the papacy itself). (I Cor. 3: 22.) 

Mercenarius autem et qui non est pastor, cujus non sunt oves 
propriae videt lupem venientem, et dimittit oves et fugit, et lupus rapit 
et dispergit oves: mercenarius autem fugit, quia mercenarius est et 
non pertinet ad eum de ovibus. How grandly the image of the Good 
Shepherd stands forth, in bold relief, upon this dark background! 
Innumerable systems, inimical to religion, to Christ and to his 
Church, have arisen. What can they offer to humanity for the 
deepest and inmost life of the soul? How solve the most recent 
questions? What can they offer in time of need and of death and 
on the brink of the grave? These are not shepherds. And those 
who permit themselves to be separated from the unity of the Church, 
possess truth no longer. They discard one truth after the other. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



They become slaves of the opinions of the world, of the State, or of 
mammon. We cast no stones upon innocently erring sheep and 
their honest convictions. We even count many as belonging to 
the Church in a spiritual manner. But whatever Catholic cuts 
himself loose from the unity of the Church commits a horrible 
deed. He who presumes to be a shepherd and enters not through 
the door — Christ — through the Church commissioned by Him, 
is a thief and a robber. The counterpart of the Good Shepherd 
serves to urge the pastor of souls and his parish to swear fidelity 
in matters of faith and of duty to Christ, and to His Church on this 
day. The preacher may, therefore, with profit, emphasize his own 
duties and those of his parish, his oath of fidelity and that of the 
parish, in his sermons of this Sunday. Ego sum pastor bonus, et 
cognosco oves meas et cognoscunt me meae. Sicut novit me Pater et 
ego agnosco Pair em: et animam meant pono pro ovibus meis. The 
Saviour had painted a general picture of the Good Shepherd upon 
the background of an image of the bad shepherd. He now describes 
in particular His pastoral office and activity. But He compresses 
everything into one single fine: the solicitude for every individual 
soul. As He knows the Father and the Father knows Him — as 
He sees the divine immensity and can alone value it — so does He 
likewise know and see the immense, boundless value of every indi- 
vidual soul. Every soul possesses something divine, is created for 
God, and by faith, by grace and love is destined for God. The 
Risen Saviour may rightfully speak thus. If on Easter morn we 
look back upon His life we must say: The Good Shepherd, Christ 
Jesus, was solicitous for every soul. He preached not only to the 
masses. Think of Nicodemus, of the Samaritan woman, of Mag- 
dalen, of the adulteress, of Zacheus and of the thief on the cross — 
what a touching solicitude for every single soul ! — The preacher 
might here easily intertwine one or the other concrete sketch. On 
Mt. Olive and on His Way to the Cross, every single soul of every 
single man pressed heavily upon Him. The condition of your own 
soul lay clearly before Him. And with what touching solicitude 
did the Saviour seek to gather the several souls that belonged to 
Him, after His resurrection! How significant the meeting of the 
disciples of Emmaus and the apparition to Thomas ! There cannot 
possibly exist more splendid proofs that Jesus possessed the heart 
of the Good Shepherd for our needs and our anxieties, for our cares 
and our sins. And it is just this Jesus Who treated the disciples of 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Emmaus with such a single pastoral solicitude — and who replaced 
the lost stone — Thomas — into the Apostolic edifice: He it is Who 
is present at consecration, for our disposal, and in the tabernacle is 
our Shepherd and the Shepherd of the whole parish: cognosco oves 
meas. And He hastens after the lost sheep as if it were His only one. 
We know no better opportunity to move every individual singly to 
an unflinching confidence in the Good Shepherd. Never, therefore, 
is everything lost. Want of courage comes not from God. But the 
sheep must hear the voice of the shepherd, even though it require 
sacrifice. How appropriately may not the pastor of souls here 
express — without emphasizing his own personality — his cheerful 
readiness to sacrifice himself for the needs of the parish, his cheer- 
ful willingness to be himself and, through others, a Good Shepherd ! 
Here also the urgent admonition may be practically expressed for 
assiduity in the attendance at religious instruction and at catechism, 
for a timely baptism and a timely call for the pastoral administration 
to the sick, for attendance at mass and at sermons. How appro- 
priately and earnestly may he not speak, resting upon the words 
of Jesus, of the necessity of the knowledge of the sheep on 
the part of Christ and of the pastor of souls, and the relation 
of the pastoral care of souls and of the management of the 
parish, and the seeking out of the new arrivals might be easily 
increased and the religious interest of the parish in general, 
and, especially, the parental interest for children be aroused in a 
spirit of mutual collaboration : cognosco oves meas et cognoscunt me 
meae. And from the pastoral care in detail the Lord directs our 
attention to the pastoral care at large, to the care of the souls of 
the whole world. 

Et alias oves habeo, quae non sunt ex hoc ovili et illos oportet me 
adducere et vocem meam audient et fiet unum ovile et unus pastor. 
The Good Shepherd, in the Gospel of today, parts from our midst 
after having assured us that it is His will to possess but one place 
of shelter and one fold for His sheep. Into that one Church He 
shall call Jews and pagans, the nations of all times and of all coun- 
tries. To this one place of shelter and one fold He longs to lead 
back all who have separated themselves therefrom. This one place 
of shelter is the Catholic Church, the building up of which the Risen 
Saviour is completing during these Easter days. The one visible 
shepherd of this fold is Peter, and is and ever will remain the papacy, 
to which, at the end of the fourth Gospel, the Good Shepherd says : 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Feed my lambs, feed my sheep! But this one visible shepherd 
should lead and desires to lead all the sheep delivered to him solely 
and alone to the one visible Shepherd, as the first Pope announces 
in the Epistle: "You were as sheep going astray; but you are now 
converted to the shepherd and the bishop of your souls." (I. Pet. 2 : 
25). Just a short while ago the Good Shepherd awakened our 
interest for every individual soul and for the pastoral care in every 
particular detail. Now He reminds us of the huge task of the pas- 
toral care in general, of calling and leading home the nations of the 
earth into the Catholic Church, the Church of the whole world. 
Few words of the preacher will suffice to create, practically, an 
interest for the great work of home and foreign missions among 
Catholics, in the full light and joy of Easter, and to acquaint them 
with the intentions of the Pope concerning prayer and work. It 
is necessary to make Catholics fully conscious that their Church 
has a world-wide mission. Again and again must the echo of those 
last words of the Good Shepherd resound: Go and teach all 
nations — preach the Gospel to every creature! Feed my lambs, 
feed my sheep! 

Thus the liturgy of today has impressed upon the renewed 
golden background of the image of the Risen Saviour the character- 
istic traits of the Good Shepherd. A grand image, which shows us 
what the Good Shepherd is and how He works in particular and in 
general. 



In conclusion we wish to draw special attention to one unique 
feature of this Sunday. What an overpowering contrast there is 
in the joyful Eastertide between Good Friday and the day of Easter. 
The Sunday of the Good Shepherd constructs a bridge, as it were, 
between Good Friday and the day of Easter. It is the same Good 
Shepherd Who gives His life on Good Friday and Who gloriously 
precedes His flock as the Risen Saviour during these Easter days. 
We find this double idea in the oration and in the Epistle in a strik- 
ing manner. On Good Friday the scriptural words were fulfilled 
in the Good Shepherd: Smite the shepherd and the sheep will 
scatter. During these Easter days the Good Shepherd gathers His 
sheep again until He turns them over to His representative in the 
newly established Church, with which He will abide until the end 
of days. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Themes for sermons for this Sunday and for the Sundays 
after Easter 

We do not wish to encroach upon the individuality of any one 
by presenting more homiletic plans from the ideas just developed. 

Theme I. The Risen Saviour as the Good Shepherd. This 
Sunday announces (a) once more the Risen Saviour in the full light 
of Easter (compare the above thoughts: Development of Sunday I. 
The Risen Saviour, a short selection, also fundamental thoughts of 
Sunday). It announces the Risen Saviour (b) as the Good Shep- 
herd, again in the light of Easter (see II: The Risen Saviour as the 
Good Shepherd, thematic selection). 

Theme II. The Risen Saviour at the end of the paschal con- 
fession and communion. He gives Christians (a) the Easter fire of 
faith (compare: the development of Sunday L), (b) the Easter fire 
of zeal (see above I, with applications of Easter resolutions, f.i., 
regarding the Sunday obligations, the duties of the various stations 
of life or as a day of rest in God (Sunday), and of labor in itself or 
as a vocation. Such applications, however, should not be made in 
mere commonplace language. (See Holy Saturday, p. 398 sqq.) 

Theme III. The parting address of the •Good Shepherd to the 
paschal communicants. I. I am the Good Shepherd: / give my 
life for my sheep. Good Friday — Easter — day of communion: ut 
vitam haheant et abundantius habeant! qui manducat me, vivit propter 
me. We receive Holy Communion in order to have the life of grace, 
the fountain of life within us. Therefore, a resolution for life: 
never to lose life — grace. " Could I have done more? May I not 
ask this much?" II. I am the Good Shepherd: I know my sheep. 
I know your Easter resolutions. Therefore: conversi estis ad pas- 
torem et episcopum animarum vestrarum. Some forceful reminis- 
cences, f.i., the Good Shepherd and your thoughts (faith), the Good 
Shepherd and your family (IV Command.), the Good Shepherd 
and your heart (VI Command.). 

Theme IV. The Good Shepherd in Holy and Easter Week, (a) He 
gives His life for His sheep (see the above ideas and the Epistle) : 
(b) He gathers His sheep (see the exegesis on the Good Shepherd) : 
(aa) He knows every single soul, (bb) He knows and calls the parish 
(the paschal sacraments lead all to Him), (cc) He knows and calls 
all the sheep of the whole world (compare the end of the exegesis). 
He is the one and the same Good Shepherd, Who stands before us 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



with His glorified wounds (see above the conclusions on the Sun- 
day, p. 472). 

Theme V. Homily on the Gospel (see above, p. 469 sqq.). 

Theme VI. A thematic homily, (a) The Good Shepherd : His 
image; His counterfeit; (b) The Good Shepherd's work, in detail 
and in general. 

Theme VII. The last work of the Good Shepherd on His Church. 
Loquens eis de regno Dei. 1 He gathers the dispersed building-stones 
of His Church, (a) He appears to Peter, the foundation-stone, and 
this one confirms his brethren, (b) He rebuilds the rest of the Apos- 
tles upon this foundation-stone as living stones (the apparition on 
Easter night), (c) He places within the edifice of the Church cer- 
tain powers for the inmost life of the soul: Accipite Spiritum Sanc- 
tum: quorum remiseritis peccata, etc. — Pax vobis — Baptizantes 
eos in nomine Patris, etc. (d) He puts strength and power into the 
exterior of the building (end of the four Gospels) ; He appoints the 
Apostles: (a), teachers of His truth (Matthew), Q8) heralds of his 
law (Mark), (y) witnesses of His acts (Luke), (S) He unites and 
solidifies all in the foundation-stone — Peter (John : pasce agnos 
meos, pasce oves meas). (e) He Himself will abide with the entire 
building, and so will also the Spirit of truth whom He will send. 
These are the last acts of the Good Shepherd in our behalf. 

VIII. Themes for several Sundays. A cycle upon the Good 
Shepherd would be very appropriate at times — this could be done by 
making the whole image of the Good Shepherd, given by John 10: 
1-2 1, the basis, and by gathering the other splendid scriptural pas- 
sages on the pastor and the oves and sketching a cycle from the 
second Sunday after Easter to the feast of the Ascension. 

§ 54. The Third Sunday aeter Easter 

The Risen Christ — Taking Leave from us 

I. Fundamental thoughts on the Sunday — Easter in Heaven. 

A little while on earth. As already remarked (§ 51, p. 451 sqq.), 
on the third Sunday after Easter there is suddenly a tone of sor- 
row mixed with Easter joy. The departure of the Risen Saviour is 
approaching. 

1 The forty days of the Risen Saviour are entirely taken up under the view-point 
of the revelations concerning the regnum Dei. See Acts of the Apostles, 1:3; 
Grimm's Leben Jesu, VII. B., p. 463. 



476 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



From this Sunday on, the Church selects very thoughtfully the 
Gospel lessons from the addresses of the parting Redeemer, which 
she took into account in her liturgy of Holy Thursday. She per- 
severes in this disposition until the vigil of the Ascension. 

We most earnestly recommend to the preacher for this ecclesi- 
astical time, Bishop Keppler's Unseres Herrn Trost, an excellent 
explanation of the address of the Lord at the Last Supper, contain- 
ing very rich homiletic stimulations. This work is admirably 
suited for fruitful stimulations, for a cycle of Lenten and Sacred 
Heart sermons. 

The entire Sunday contains one mighty and exalted cry: There 
is an Eternity ! But it is not the trumpet cry to Judgment which 
resounded on the first Sunday of Advent, but the solemn Easter 
chimes which announce Easter in Heaven to us. 

II. Development of the Sunday. The Risen Saviour points out 
to us our Easter in heaven with Him, when we shall see Him again and 
u the little while" on earth when we shall not see Him. 

1. The Apocalypse, the reading of which begins today, de- 
scribes Easter in Heaven (I. nocturn). Of this Easter in Heaven 
Jesus speaks in today's Gospel. And the Easter jubilation of the 
office is but an echo of that heavenly Easter. 1 (See n. i.) 

2. The last preparation for the heavenly Easter is the resurrec- 
tion of the flesh, of which St. Augustin speaks in the lessons of the 
second nocturn in a grand manner. 

3. The present preparation for the heavenly Easter is "the little 
while" of our terrestrial probation, in which we are 

(a) Wanderers and pilgrims (Epistle I. Pet., c. 2), and we must 
live as such (fruitful exposition of the Epistle) ; in which we are 

(b) Tried and persecuted fighters in many tribulations (see the 
Gospel), who 

(c) Expect to see Christ again, Who precedes us, " after a little 
while" (see below), as the Gospel points out and the thoughtful 
homily of St. Augustin fully explains in the third nocturn. 

Therefore we pray, and we sing the prayer and the song of the 
pilgrim through this valley of tears, in honor of the parting Good 
Shepherd Who ever guides us : Deus, qui errantibus, ut in viam pos- 
sint redirejustitiae, veritatem tuam ostendis, da cunctis, qui Christiana 
professione censentur, et ilia respuere quae huic inimica sunt nomini 
et ea quae sunt apta sectari! (Oration of the day.) 

1 See Father Wenniger's "Easter in Heaven." 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



477 



This oration precisely contains the last admonition and the part- 
ing advice of the Risen Saviour to all who have now received the 
sacraments of Easter. 

(a) You are completely and entirely Catholic Christians: 
Christiana professione censemini: in viani salutis rediistis. — You 
have had yourselves fully and completely inscribed again in the 
book of life and of the Church (paschal confession and communion 
and a religious community life). 

(b) What f ollows from this ? 

(a) Respuere, quae huic inimica sunt nomini. 
(ft) Apia sectari (aa) , sectari lumen veritatis Christi. 
Lumen exempli Christi, qui vadit ad Patrem! 

A homiletic digression on 11 a little while." We still emphasize the 
universal meaning of "a little while," of which the Saviour speaks so 
emphatically. 

What is this u little while"} 

(a) The expression refers to the nearest time before Easter. From the 
evening of Holy Thursday, on which day these words were spoken, to 
the Passion and the death of Jesus, it was but a " little while," in which 
they see Him no more. But after a little while of Passion and of rest 
in the grave they shall see Him again. The time of the Passion and of 
the grave shall be a terrible time. But how little it will appear com- 
pared to the glorious day of Easter. 

(b) The expression refers to the time after Easter. This glorious time 
is likewise a little while, and after this little while they will no longer see 
Jesus ascending into heaven. But then a little while again will follow: 
the quiet and serious time of prayer during the novena of Pentecost. 
Then the Holy Ghost will come and through Him they shall see Jesus, 
in a spiritual manner, in the Church again: He continues to live in the 
Church and in the most adorable sacrament of the Altar. 

(c) The expression, according to the sense of the Church, refers likewise 
to the ecclesiastical time after Easter. Even with the feasts of the Risen 
Saviour we are loath to part. We do not long for the approach of the 
feast of the Ascension. At present we seem to walk personally with 
Christ. And the Church consoles us now with the little while before 
the feast of Pentecost. This feast announces that the Saviour will 
abide with us in His truth and in His grace, even personally. 

(d) The expression refers to our lifetime. To this, in fact, the expres- 
sion which we hear from the lips of our Saviour tends. Life with its 
battles and its woes, especially the life of the faithful who are engaged 
in war with the world and during which they themselves battle in the 



478 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



army of Him Crucified and risen — this life is but a little while. (John 
16: 19, 20, 21, of the Gospel of the Sunday.) As the time before birth 
rests most heavily upon a mother, but after birth is exceedingly joyful — 
so our lifetime weighs heavily upon us and is often oppressive and crush- 
ing: but, though we now experience sadness, we shall see the Lord in 
the hour of death again, and our joy no one can take away from us. To 
the old world this assured, confident expression, firm as a rock — of 
seeing Christ again after death — of Christians being with Christ, was 
an unheard-of new idea. It is as if the Risen Saviour were saying to us: 
There is an Eternal Easter ! the joy of which no workday, no ill-fortuned 
time shall ever disturb, the joy which no one will ever be able to take 
from you. " With my Father there are many mansions: and were it not 
so, I would have told you." Thus the while of our lifetime is 

(a) short: therefore, labor whilst there is day, therefore, suffer: 
compatimini, conglorificabimini ! Obsecro vos tanquam advenos et pere- 
grinos abstinere vos a carnalibus desideriis, etc. (Epistle of the day, 
I Pet., c. 2.) The lifetime is 

(P) precious: purchased by the crucified Redeemer in order that 
we may be able to see Christ again and to pave the way to the mansions 
of the Father: Deus, qui errantibus, ut in viam possint redire justitiae, 
veritatis tuae lumen ostendis: da cunctis, qui Christiana professione cen- 
sentur, et ilia respuere, quae huic inimica sunt nomini: et ea quae sunt 
apta, sectari. Our general, Christ Jesus, precedes us: He has suffered 
with us all the hardships of the way: nunc est tempus acceptabile, nunc 
est dies salutis. What the Church thus held out to us at the beginning 
of the Eastertide (I Sunday of Lent) is doubly applicable at the end 
thereof. 

(e) The expression may be applied to the whole world. The 
Apocalypse, the reading of which the Church begins on the III Sunday 
after Easter — represents the whole duration of the world, compared 
to eternity, merely as a little while. With St. John in the Apoca- 
lypse, let us measure the life of the world and of culture, of secular and 
ecclesiastical history, in the light of eternity and of God's eternal plan 
of the world! This Sunday is likewise a mighty war-cry against the 
world and a call to the banner of Christ. The echo of the Easter ora- 
tion reverberates most powerfully through this Sunday: Deus, per 
Unigenitum tuum aeternitatis nobis aditum reserasti. All things are 
gathered under the portals of eternity. Today the paschal candle and 
the candle used at the funeral coalesce. And death appears as the means 
of seeing Christ again after "a little while." The fire of Easter and the 
fire of the day of judgment combine: history is a migration of nations 
to the seeing of Christ again: obsecro vos, advenae et peregrini. (Epistle.) 
Compare also the thoughts of the I Sunday of Advent (p. 176 sqq., 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



p. 183, Theme X, p. 185. Theme XI, B., p. 187, Theme XI, D., and 
p. 796, Theme XI, I and II Sunday of Advent, p. 176 sqq. and p. 193 sqq.) 
See also: Meyenberg, Eine Weile des Nachdenkens iiber unsere Seele. 
Luzern, Raber, 1904. 

§ 55. The Fourth Sunday after Easter 

The Risen Christ — our Consoler 

Christ takes leave. And He calls all the lapses of time which 
separate us from Him, which manifest Him to us not unveiled, but 
in a veiled manner, — "a little while." Yet He speaks of this 
time of separation and of the conflict on all sides, so lovingly, be- 
cause He promises the Church and all souls a comforter — the Holy 
Ghost, precisely for this time. This promise is the consolation of 
Christ of which we speak, and the Holy Ghost is Himself the com- 
forter through the commission of Christ. 

In the liturgy of the fourth Sunday after Easter we find these 
thoughts presented under the following historical views: 

The Risen Christ promises the Comforter. (The first picture of 
Pentecost. The first fiery tongue of the Holy Ghost.) 

(a) The Comforter comes for the children of God. On last Sun- 
day Christ spoke in very serious words, of "the little while": Amen, 
amen, dico vobis: quia plorabitis, mundus autem gaudebit. For this 
time of pilgrimage (see the Epistle and the Gospel of last Sun- 
day). The risen Saviour sends the comforter. Thus it is. He comes. 
The Son of God has pledged His word. The Holy Ghost is the 
power of God — He can comfort in time of conflict, in our going 
astray, and in suffering. The Holy Ghost is the love of God — He 
desires to comfort. (See p. 550.) 

(b) The comforter comes for the children of the world. During " the 
little while" of the time of the world, the Holy Ghost will already 
begin the judgment of the world. This we gather from the lessons 
of the Apocalypse. The judgment, by the Holy Ghost, takes place 
to prove the good, to save the sinners, or to punish them. During 
the course of the history of the world and of the Church, He will 
convict the world: 

(a) Be peccato: quia non crediderunt in me. The Holy Ghost 
will render a fearful judgment of infidelity during the course of the 
history of the world, before all who have eyes to see. He will show 
that infidelity is a crime in the eyes of God. Christ has said: He 



4 8o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



who believes not is already condemned. He called the unbelief of 
Korozain, Bethsaida, and Capharnaum a greater guilt than the sin 
of Sodom (Matt. 14: 11). In complete conformity with this 
spirit St. Thomas teaches: Sin is the greater, the more it leads us 
away from God. But unbelief leads us as far away from God as 
it is possible: it tears asunder the last bond that binds us to God, 
it destroys and poisons the root, the source, the principle of con- 
version {habitus fidei), which every other mortal sin does not de- 
stroy. What an enormous difference between the judgment of 
Christ and the judgment of the world ! How this truth is confirmed 
when, in crossing the Roman forum, you pass the tombstones of 
Judaism (the arch of Titus) and of paganism (Rome's ruins !) etc. 

(/3) Be justitia, quia ad Pair em vado. The Saviour spoke these 
words before His passion. God permitted Christ to descend into 
the valley of suffering and of death, that during His whole life, in 
fact, He may be the despised servant of God. The world would 
also like to deny the resurrection of Christ and especially to walk 
over His Church. But the Holy Ghost has provided that the resur- 
rection, the ascension, and the sitting at the right hand of the 
Father become world-wide known, that the justice of God, Who does 
not permit His sacred cause and its defenders to perish, stand 
forth gloriously vindicated. The same is manifested by the Holy 
Ghost, from time to time, in the Kingdom of Christ : Christus vivit, 
Christus vincit, Christus imperat (the inscription on the obelisk in 
the piazza of St. Peter). The preacher should demonstrate this by 
some striking sketches taken from profane history. There is an 
eternal justice : this is taught by the history of the Church from 
the days of the writing of the De mortibus persecutorum and Be 
Civitate Bei unto this day. It vindicates the holy cause of God 
and of the Church (p. 345 sqq.). 

(y) Be judicio: quia princeps hujus mundi jam judicatus est. 
The Holy Ghost shows also, in the course of the ecclesiastical his- 
tory, that the prince of this world, Satan, the liar and the murderer 
of men from the beginning, is already conquered, judged, and cast 
out. We have but to recall the history of the councils, and of the 
heresies and of the confessional. Every Easter time is a new, 
grand proof given by the Holy Ghost, of how the prince of the 
world, the spirit of falsehood and of death, is cast out. (See the 
third Sunday of Lent, p. 271.) 

The third and the fourth Sundays are especially well adapted 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 481 



to recall to mind, with emphasis, the antithesis between Christ and 
the world, between faith and unbelief, between the kingdom of 
God and of the world, between culture with God and culture with- 
out God. 

Fecerunt amoves duo civitates duas, terrenus terrestrem usque ad 
contemptum Dei — coelestis vero coelestem usque ad contemptum sui. 
(Aug. de Civit. Dei. ) See p. 126, n. 14. 

§ 56. The Fifth Sunday after Easter 

The Last Request of the Risen Redeemer: Pray! Orate! 

The Risen Christ reigns in His Kingdom. The Christians are 
arisen with Him. Christ has become to them the author of faith, 
the motive of faith, the author of grace, the dispenser of grace, the 
vine of the supernatural fruit, the shepherd of the kingdom from 
within and without, the promiser of the Comforter and of the judge, 
and also withal the prototype and the example of His followers. 
If this splendid kingdom of Easter is to grow from within and from 
without, if, after the Ascension of its founder, it is to embrace and 
to penetrate us and innumerable others of this world, then a super- 
natural mighty power is to be invoked, viz: Prayer. Today we 
arrive at the Sunday and the week of prayer. 

On the first Sunday of Advent we expressed ourselves ex pro- 
fesso (p. 60 sqq., pp. 179, 180 sqq.), and throughout these homiletic 
studies we have done this repeatedly, to the effect that the com- 
mand and the direction of prayer, its preparation and introduction, 
is one of the main duties of the preacher (see pp. 60, 61, 62, pp. 179- 
180 sqq. and p. 44 sqq.). Therefore we shall here merely treat 
briefly of this subject. 

Directions for prayers and especially the petitions of the liturgy on 
the Rogation days. 

I. We must pray. Prayer is postulated by 

A. Our own condition. The fruits of the Crucified and the 
Risen Lord simply do not thrive within us without prayer. (The 
necessity of prayer: necessitate medii.) Compare herewith the 
entire fundamental character of the fifth week after Easter. Con- 
sult also the rich materials of moralists, f.i., Gopfert, I. n. 324; 
Lehmkuhl I. v. n. 338 II. and ad II. n. 340; Muller I. B.: de ora- 
tione. Nodlin, de praeceptis, n. 138 sqq. Quote likewise the tri- 
umphant proofs of the entire Christian order of salvation, which 



482 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



represent prayer as a medium necessarium ad aeternam salutem 
(Trid. Sess. VI. C. 11), and those writers who speak of the necessitas 
medii, f.i., Eph. 6, 13 and 15: Orate ut possitis resistere in die malo 
et in omnibus perfecti stare. Consider also the necessity of prayer 
for the donum persevarantiae, Trid. I. c. and St. Augustin: de dono 
per sever antiae. Consider likewise the Gospel of the Sunday, which 
says : Petite et accepietis, ut gaudium vestrum sit plenum. The part- 
ing Saviour, the Risen Saviour says: Prayer, prayer alone nils our 
Easter joy, makes it an infallible source of heavenly joy. Prayer 
is also imposed by 

B. The inexorable solemn command of Christ. {Necessitas 
necessitate praecepti.) This is made known to us by the Sunday 
and the week of prayer. 

(a) The command of Christ: Luke 11:9. Petite et dabitur vobis: 
quaerite et invenietis: pulsate et aperietur vobis. Omnis enim qui 
petit accipit, et qui quaerit invenit, et pulsanti aperietur: alleluia! 
(Gospel and communion of the Litaniae majores.) This liturgical 
passage may be confirmed by Matt. 6:9; 26: 41; Luke 18: 1, sqq. 
I. Pet. 4: 7; Col. 4: 2 sqq., I Thess. 5: 17. These powerful pre- 
cepts of Christ are confirmed by 

(b) The encouragements and the promises of Christ. Use the 
splendid argumenta a minor e ad majus, given in the Litaniis majori- 
bus of the mass of these days; 

(a) Of the intempestuous begging friend, who is heard in spite 
of all difficulties. How much more readily will God hear you, 
Whom you are obliged to ask (Luke 11:5 sqq.) 

ifi) Of the father who is asked, who will not give to the begging 
child stones instead of bread, nor scorpions instead of fishes. Con- 
sider the irresistible touching argumentum a minore ad majus: What 
will the heavenly Father do? (Luke 11: 11 sqq.) 

Confirm these parables of prayer by the others 

(y) Of the unjust judge and the publican, Luke 18:1-8; Luke 18: 
9-14. (Compare also Lehmann, Betrachtungen auf alle Tage des 
Jahres, IV. B. S. 136 sqq. and II. B. S. 172 sqq.) These demon- 
strations of Christ will contain an irresistibly popular force, should the 
preacher succeed in developing the power and the depth of the 
sentiment of these parables of prayer. 1 ) 

This theme: We must pray — should often be treated in new 

1 Consult Fonck S. J. Die Parabeln des Herrn im Evangelium. Innsbruck, Rauch, 

Pustet, 1902, S. 439-452; S. 662-667; S. 668-676. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 483 



forms. Consult the writings of the Fathers of the Church on prayer 
in general and de oratione dominica (see the collection of Hurter, pt. 

id. 

II. How must we pray? Holy Scripture and liturgy reduce all 
properties of prayer to a solitary one. And this is especially done 
by the liturgy of these days. (See the Gospel of the Sunday) : 

In nomine Jesu. This property contains all others. Let the 
preacher mark this. His explanation will thus become more fruit- 
ful and less pedantic. To this property infallibility is promised. 
The Gospel of this day pronounces this solemnly. Add hereto the 
words of the Lord, of John 14: 10: quodcunque petieritis Patrem in 
nomine meo, hoc facio. Prayer for salvation is always heard. The 
proper prayer for temporal affairs is heard either in the manner 
desired, or it is surely heard in some other manner, one much better 
for us; f.i., we obtain most extraordinary graces for the persever- 
ing sufferings, etc. But we pray — in nomine Jesu — when we 
pray in unions cum Jesu, in union with Jesus, also 

(a) In union with the intentions of Jesus (with the Heart of 
Jesus), especially if it be for our salvation and never against the 
will of God. (See the prayers of Christ in Gethsemani; pp. 40-43.) 

(/3) In union with the atonement and the merits of Christ. 
(Recommend, especially, prayer at the atoning sacrifice in con- 
secration: sacrificium propitiatorium removet obstacula gratiarum et 
salutis: sacrificium impetratorium viam parat gratiis salutis, and also 
prayer after communion). 

(y) On union with Christ in faith, hope, confidence, and per- 
severance: adeamus igitur cumfiducia ad thronum gratiae (Heb. 4: 16). 
On perseverance, consult Luke, c. n, the Gospel of the Litaniae 
majores, etc. 

(8) In union with Christ, in sanctifying grace. (Consult the 
parables of the vine and the grapes and the doctrine on prayer so 
often overlooked therein, John, c. 15.) Emphasize these testamen- 
tary words of Christ. Let the preacher increase the confidence of 
the sinner, but also emphasize, especially with a forceful energy, 
prayer in the state of grace. Invite the hearers especially: to be- 
gin prayer, and, above all, the holy sacrifice of the mass, with per- 
fect contrition: Confiteor! Kyrief The publican! Consult also 
John 14: 13, and especially 15: 7, 16 and 16: 23. 

Concerning the doctrine on the efficacia infallibilis of the prayer 
of petition, Suarez emphatically says, De religione, t. IV. c. 27: The 



484 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



faithful must strongly believe the doctrine of the infallibility of genuine 
prayer , and should often be thoroughly instructed therein. The passages 
of the Gospel and of Scripture: Matt. 7: 8 and 11 , Luke 11: p and io, 
John 14 : 14, 16 : 23, and others are conclusive proof of this command. 

We would remind the preacher also of the following themes on 
prayer, taken from moralists and ascetics : What is prayer? How 
often must we pray? (Consider the principle: Whoever does not 
pray regularly, generally prays not at all.) To whom must we 
pray? (See below, litaniae majores). For whom must we pray? 
For what must we pray? What is the effect of prayer? Literature : 
above all: the moral theologies of Noldin, Gopfert, Miiller, Lehm- 
kuhl, Simar, Probst, Linsenmann, Sailer, Hirscher; also ascetic 
works on prayer, above all : Alphonse of Liguori. The great means 
of prayer. (The examples taken from the ascetic writings of the 
Saints are not always very judiciously chosen.) Then the respective 
chapters of St. Francis de Sales, Brucker-Lehen. The way to in- 
terior peace; Gihr, the holy sacrifice of the mass: The mass as an 
imperative sacrifice; Fr. Schmid, Wirksamkeit des Bittgebetes; 
Gutberlet, Lehrbuch der Apologie, 1. s. 25 sqq. Pesch, Praelec- 
tiones dogmaticae, IX. n. 312-358; Th. Meyer Institutiones naturae, 
II. p. 24. Immensely practical ideas might be occasionally found 
in the Apologie of Hettinger, P. Weiss, in the writings of Alban 
Stolz (f.i., Das Vater Unser and Der Unendliche Gruss). The 
respective works of the Fathers of the Church may be used with 
great profit by the preacher. (See p. 180. V.) 

§57. The Litaniae Majores et Minores or the Processions 

on Rogation Days 

1. The litaniae are solemn processions of the clergy and the 
people amidst alternating prayers and chants. During such litaniae, 
f.i., visits were made to the different station churches in Rome on 
feast or fast-days. (See above, p. 262 sqq.) Besides these there 
were other more independent litaniae and such are the litaniae 
majores on April 25 (St. Mark's day), and the litaniae minores of 
Rogation-week, on the days before the ascension of Christ. These 
became in time fixed parts of the ecclesiastical worship. 

2. The processions on April 25 are called litaniae majores. On 
April 25 (VII Kal. Maias) occurred the solemn ambarvale (from 
"arva" — field), processions around the field with the victims 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 485 



for the sacrifices for the preservation of the fruits of the 
field, and specifically for preserving the corn from mildew. The 
procession began on the Via Flaminia, the present Corso, and it 
went as far as the fifth milestone, i.e., to the Milvian bridge. There 
a sacrifice was offered to the god Robigus to avert the (robigo) mil- 
dew. The procession and the celebration were called Robigalia. It 
is most probable that the Church transformed the pagan procession 
of prayer into a Christian one. Besides, we have for this the 
express testimony of the erudite medieval writer Beleth, in Rationale, 
c. 123, though of a somewhat late date, who mentions that Pope 
Liberius established the Christian procession instead of the pagan 
sacrificial ones. The Gelasianum does not mention it, it is true, 
though the custom might have been, nevertheless, of a prior date. 
Gregory the Great organized the already existing processions, 
transferred other rogation processions precisely to this day, formed 
them into especially solemn processions of prayer for public pur- 
poses of various kinds: the idea, however, of the invocation of the 
blessing of God for the fruits of the field remained. The order of 
the celebration established by Gregory, who collected the various 
processions into the one church, became a norm for the order of the 
processions unto this day: many parishes proceed, with preference, 
to a general station or pilgrimage church. On the evening prior- to 
the procession Gregory delivered (most probably in St. Peter's, 
where in former days at that time a feast in honor of the entrance of 
Peter into Rome was celebrated) a homily as a preparation. On 
the following day the people came divided into seven processions, 
from seven churches, to Maria Maggiore: Litaniae septiformis 
(Gregory Epistle II. 2). The procession probably was concentrated 
already earlier in St. Peter's on April 25, on the rogation days 
on Monday in Maria Maggiore, on Tuesday in the Lateran, 
and on Wednesday in St. Peter's. This procession on St. Mark's 
day was gradually adopted everywhere and finally prescribed by 
special law. It is supremely interesting to know that the proces- 
sion is not connected by any close liturgical relation with the feast 
of St. Mark. If the feast of St. Mark is transferred on account of 
the concurring Easter octave, then the procession still remains for 
the 25th of April. Only when St. Mark's day occurs on Easter 
is the procession transferred, but, again, not upon the transferred 
St. Mark's day, but to the Tuesday after Easter. We see in the 
still existing rubrical regulation a memorial of the dies fixa of 



486 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



April 25, which was tenaciously observed in Rome in order 
that some new kind of a pagan field celebration might not arise. 
The Roman order, which had an entirely unique reason in the city, 
became afterwards a common law: all celebrated and still cele- 
brate with Rome and on the same day as Rome — the mistress of 
the grand covenant of love. 

3. The other rogation processions were called litaniae minor es, 
in contrast to the solemn litaniae of April 25, especially so 
the field processions on the three days before the ascension of 
Christ. They were first introduced by St. Mamertus, Bishop of 
Vienne, in the year 470, when earthquakes and other calamities 
devastated France and his diocese. The procession, having been 
once introduced, remained and became a general practise, and was 
made by the synod of Orleans in 511 (c. 27) a legal prescription for 
the kingdom of Gaul : in this appears already the expression : roga- 
tiones. In Rome the litaniae minor es were not adopted until under 
Leo III. (795-810). For a long time there was some opposition in 
Rome to the introduction of penitential days into the solemn Quin- 
quagesima between Easter and Pentecost. In connection with 
these rogation days and processions there originated in various 
dioceses various other rogation and procession days, according to 
the changing necessities or occasions and manifestations of graces. 1 

4. Litaniae omnium Sanctorum. The principal prayer at these 
rogation processions, from the earliest days, was the litany of all 
Saints. The Greek XiravLa signified in classical language: a fes- 
tive prayer : Xiravevco — supplicor, rogo. In the earlier Chris- 
tian days the name was used for solemn rogation prayers with 
repeated cries of intercession. A model of the Old Testament we 
find in Psalm 135, which repeats twenty-seven times the answer 
of the people: quoniam in aeternum misericordia ejus. The oldest 
form of the litany — in the shape of a prayer — is the Kyrie of the 
mass, the number of which was formerly indefinite: an alternating 
chant between the clergy and the people, until the celebrant gave 
a sign. Therefore, there is mention of a litaniae septernae, quinae, 
planae. The Kyrie eleison Kvpie eXerjcrov, transformed into the 
eleison of new-greek "Itacism" — is really the beginning cry 
of the psalm Miserere, which the Canaanite woman (Matt. 15: 22) 
addressed in touching and humble faith to our Saviour: eXerjcrov 
/jL€ y Kvpue. Some other invocations were mixed therewith, of 

1 See the interesting exposition by Kellner, Heortology, p. 128 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



487 



which some were retained in the confiteor. The longest develop- 
ment of the litany of the mass we find on Holy Saturday, when the 
candidates of baptism marched in solemn procession from the chapel 
of baptism to the Later an for the Easter mass. Here the Kyrie 
eleison of the mass was developed into a great litany, of which the 
conclusion afterwards formed the proper Kyrie of the mass. This 
is most probably the oldest form of the litany of All Saints (see p. 
395). The litany of the mass was also introduced into the office 
(Concilium Varense v. 475, see the present preces.), and finally 
developed into the great litany of the Saints with its intercessions. 
(See the intercessions on Good Friday and the historical remarks 
thereon on p. 372 sqq. Compare also, especially, Dr. Heinrich 
Samson: Die AJIerheiligenlitanei, historically, liturgically, and 
ascetically considered, Paderborn, 1894. This book is well adapted 
to inspire the homilist to deliver a cycle of sermons from All Saints' 
day to Advent.) 

5. The subject matter of the litany of All Saints is a grand 
exposition of prayer to God through and with His saints. Adora- 
tion is due to God alone. (A homiletic appreciation of this exalted 
act, see p. 248.) But intercessory prayer is also ultimately and 
principally directed to God alone, the giver of every good gift, the 
dispenser of every perfect gift: solus Dens orandus est tanqnam prin- 
cipalis bonorum auctor et largitor. But it is an article of faith that 
it is useful and wholesome to invoke the intercession of the saints. 
(Trid. Sess. XXV. de invoc. Sanctorum.) And for this we have the 
most touching testimonies of most ancient times. A precept proper 
for honoring the saints does not exist. Yet, according to the gen- 
eral opinion, it would be a sin against the virtue of religious piety 
and of well-ordered self-love, if any one were not to pray to them 
from time to time, and especially to Mary, the Mother of God, the 
mediatrix of the incarnation and of the grace of Christ. This, in 
itself, would be only a venial sin, but an indication of a poor con- 
dition of a soul and possibly also of an heretical disposition. Every- 
thing invites us mightily and powerfully to invoke the saints, the 
first and the mighty friends of the all-powerful God and of weak 
man, with whom we are united by a mysterious communion. In 
the litany of All Saints the lex credendi and the lex orandi are plainly 
reflected. 

(a) Prayer to God. The litany is immediately directed to God 
Himself. 



488 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(a) Man, a weak and sinful creature is humbled to the dust 
before the one strong and holy God, and he recognizes his complete 
dependence and God's immeasurable exaltation, the guilt of his sin 
in contrast to the justice and the love of the law-giver: Kyrie eleison! 

(0) Man, a weak and a sinful creature, is humbled to the dust 
before the one mighty and holy God in adoration, praise, thanksgiv- 
ing, atonement, and contrition : Pater de coelis Deus, Fili, Redemptor 
mundi Deus, Spiritus Sancte Deus, Sancta Trinitas unus Deus — 
miserere nobis. 

(b) Prayer to God through the saints. Now those splendid and 
fervent invocations begin in an exalted and sacred order, beginning 
with the Mother of God down to all the choirs of the angels, to all 
classes and states of the saints. These invocations bring before our 
souls the most touching reminiscences of ecclesiastical history, 
especially of the most ancient part thereof, and of the most exalted 
sanctuaries of the world. The prayer is thus interwoven with a 
wreath of holiest thoughts. 

(a) All times and all states and all classes of people produce 
saints. " If these could, why cannot I? " Why should not I attain 
that degree of sanctity which God has allotted to me? (JJnicuique 
nostrum data est gratia secundum mensuramdonationisChristi.) (Com- 
pare the Epistle of the vigil of Ascension, taken from Ephes., c. 4.) 

(J3) The saints of all times and of all classes and states animate 
us by their example: much is to be admired in them, very much 
more to be imitated. Where is our zeal, the new tire of Easter? 
We have implored it through the saints. 

(y) The saints of all times and classes and states offer us their 
power which they possess with and in God. Always more joyfully 
and more powerfully does the confidence of those praying grow. 
Upon the wings of the angels and saints, as it were, our prayers 
ascend to the one and the triune God. Every one puts his inten- 
tions and needs into the golden vase, in which the saints carry the 
incense of our prayers to the throne of the Lamb. Far from draw- 
ing us away from God, the thoughts of the saints rather give prayer, 
and the individual humbly petitions a completely pure direction 
to God: ut desideratam nobis tuae propitiationis abundantiam 
multiplicatis inter cess or ibus largiaris per Dominum nostrum Jesum 
Christum. (Oration of All Saints.) 

Thus strengthened and encouraged and accompanied and borne 
up by the saints, we appeal in boundless confidence again immedi- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 489 



ately to God Himself: Propitius esto: parce nobis, Domine. Then 
follows 

(c) The carrying of our needs before God, from whom every 
good and every perfect gift comes. This is done in a marvelous 
climax of prayers. These are 

(a) Appeals to God to deliver us from evil — above all, from the 
greatest of all evils, sin and death through sin and the danger of 
falling into this, the greatest of all evils. Then follow tender ap- 
peals which implore the sparing of earth and country from all 
terrestrial evils and catastrophes. These appeals recall to mind 
those great days of visitation through which they originate. But the 
Church always reverts to the first greatest petition : a morte perpetua 
— libera nos, Domine. The Lord alone is now invoked : A pud quern est 
misericordia et copiosa apud eum redemptio. But the Church con- 
stantly reminds us of our insufficiency. After having first directed 
us to the saints and the power which they received from Christ, the 
Church brings the prayers to a climax and there follow 

(/?) Appeals through Jesus Christ our Lord. The whole life of 
Jesus, the Redeemer, passes before the souls of those who pray: 
the litany becomes a dialogue with Christ Jesus Himself, our High 
Priest, our first, divine, and human mediator with the Father : Per 
mysterium sanctae incarnationis tuae, per adventum tuuni, per nativi- 
tatem tuaml It becomes now Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost: the 
Blood of Christ, the gigantic work of Christ is inserted and invoked 
as the first grand power. After a longer and the very best prepara- 
tion the litany becomes literally the unfailing prayer in the name of 
Jesus, and as all hope who pray, an appeal filled with the senti- 
ments of Christ. The Church now gains new force in the name of 
Jesus. Whereas before we prayed for the aversion of evil, now 
follow 

(y) Appeals to God to send us good things: to the propitiatio 
follows the impetratio. The heart and the love of him who prays is 
expanded, the needs of the Church and of the world, of the great 
and the humble, flow like a cataract of powerful and common 
prayer. And now there follows — upon the prayer to God and 
through the saints, to the presentation of needs in the name of 
Jesus, 

(d) A rest in God Who hears our petitions through Christ Jesus. 
It is now Easter in the litany: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi! 
Those who pray gather around the Paschal Lamb and follow it in 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



unflinching confidence. And a ray of the eternal Easter rest, of 
the eternal Easter joy, beams upon the souls of those praying: 
thoughts of the unfailing and ultimate hearing through Christ Jesus : 
Petite et accipietis, ut gaudium vestrum sit plenum. This prayerful 
disposition of Easter finally ends in Psalm 69: Deus in adjuto- 
rium meum intende ! — so sure of victory. 

After the liturgy and the people have ascended all these steps 
of prayer, the one who leads in prayer and with him the Church 
herself, sums up all into those glorious common petitions at the end 
of the litany, and all this is finally 

(e) Not mere private prayer, but the prayer of the Church, of 
the Bride of Christ herself, who appeals to God and appeals with 
all the saints, and is the sponsa sine macula et ruga surely heard. 

§ 58. The Vigil of Ascension 

Opus consummavi — Clarifica Filium tuum 

The solemn vigil of the feast of the Ascension is a magnificent 
retrospect into the life of Jesus from the heights of Mt. Olive. The 
Church selects for the Gospel one of the most touching paragraphs 
of the parting address of the Redeemer (John, c. 17), and puts it 
upon the lips of Christ ascending into heaven, and thereby gives 
the preacher for Ascension a vast richness of thoughts. 

1. Clarificavi Patrem super ten am: I have glorified the Father. 
It is the hour of departure. From the Gloria in excelsis of the first 
Christmas night to the Easter alleluia, the whole life of Jesus was, 
solitary and alone, one grand glorification of God. The preacher 
should endeavor to fathom these words and unfold them to his 
hearers. What, in the eyes of God, is the value of the life of Christ 
— from the manger to the cross — from the night on Mt. Olive to 
the noon of the Mt. Olive of the Ascension. From the first thought 
of Christ: ecce venio, et faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam (Heb. 10: 5 
sqq.) unto the last: Pater venit hora, clarifica Filium tuum, ut 
Filius tuus clarificet tel (See the liturgy of Candlemas-day, on the 
first thought of Jesus, p. 58 sqq.; compare also p. 239 sqq.) Is 
our life also a glorification of God? (Compare p. 594; p. 104; p. 
218, note 1; p. 233 and 234; p. 74.) 

2. Opus consummavi: I have finished the work. The preacher should 
present a lively, animating, and dogmatic-concentrated picture of the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



redeeming work of Christ, possibly in connection with the hymn of 
Corpus Christi: 

Se nascens dedit socium, 
Convescens in edulium, 
Se moriens in pretium, 
Se regnans dat in praemium. 

In the stable He was our brother, our food in the hall of the Last 
Supper, on the cross our ransom, and our precious price in the world to 
come. A similar concentrated picture is contained in the hymn of the 
Ascension: Sautis humanae Sator! The great work of Christ which 
broke the chains of our sins (vinctis catenas detrahis) and through grace 
made us free and opened heaven for us, is now finished. For an exegesis 
of the finished work consult: ( a ) The act of the Child, p. 238. (0) The 
act of the Man, the miraculous deeds of Christ in proof of His divinity 
and truth. Briefly collected and richly colored, f.i., on pp. 731-735 
and in addition thereto, p. 430 I. (y) The act of the High Priest, p. 773. 
(y) or p. 296, n. 4. But we are not yet entered therein: He must show 
us the way; but even this He has done . 

3. Manifestavi nomen tuum hominibus: I have made Thy name 
(thy truth) known to men: Haec est autem vita aeterna: ut cognos- 
cant te, solum Deum verutn et quern misisti Jesum Christum . . . 
verba quae dedisti mihi, dedi eis. 

The preacher should paint a concentrated picture of the truth of 
Christ, of the faith which Jesus brought us, which points out to the re- 
deemed the way to their eternal destiny (see pp. 13-17; also p. 400: Holy 
Saturday: New Light). Or: Christ has made the name of God known to 
man. He revealed to us: the one God and Father — the one and the 
triune God — the one aim with and in God — the one really great mis- 
fortune which may befall us : apostasy through sin — the one Redeemer 
from the power of sin and our Saviour in our need, whose name is above 
every name, Himself the God-Man — Christ Jesus, the one religious 
truth which leads us to our end, the one supernatural power, grace 
which strengthens us on the way, the one great holy law, in which the 
name of God, the essence of God, the work of God is constantly more 
and more developed. Yea, verily: Christ ascending to heaven has 
indeed made known to us the name of God, God's essence, God's design, 
God's family mysteries. (See p. 521, II, second line.) 

Are our actions and omissions a fulfilment of life's task? Upon 
our tombstone ought be truthfully written: Opus comsummavi! Yes, 
the word ought be applicable to every one, to every one's own position, 
own vocation, as the Epistle so beautifully expresses it: Fratres: uni- 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



cuique data est gratia secundum mensuram donationis Christi, etc. (Eph., 
c. 4.) Father? Mother? Employer? Employee? etc., active life? stri- 
ding life? Is our life a manifestation of the divine name by faith, by 
principles of faith, by profession of faith? or do we only give testimony of 
the world? What has been the state of our soul since our Easter con- 
fession? Do we aim to reach our eternal destiny? 

Thus the glorified Christ takes His departure. He has glorified the 
Father. He has finished the work of redemption which the Father had 
given Him v He has made manifest the name of the Father. Coming 
into the world He said: ecce venio, ut faciam, Deus, voluntatem tuam (Heb. 
10:5-7; see above p. 58-59). Parting from this world He says: opus con- 
summavi quod dedisti mihi ut faciam. On the day of His death He said 
in a loud voice: Consummatum est! and today He says in unspeakable 
glory: opus consummavi, et nunc clarifica me tu Pater apud temetipsum, 
claritate, quam habui, priusquam mundus esset, apud tel Et jam non 
sum in mundo et hi in mundo sunt — et ego ad te venio. And as glori- 
fied God-Man He disappears from the eyes of His own; He is carried 
above the heavens of heavens : He ascends and sits at the right hand of 
the Father. And His own follow Him, by and by, legion after legion, 
after the souls of the forefathers had first entered the opened gates with 
the ascending Christ Himself: Vocem jucunditatis annuntiate . . . 
alleluia . . . alleluia . . . annuntiate usque ad extremum terrae: libe- 
ravit Dominus populum suum, alleluia, alleluia! (Introit of the Vigil.) 

§ 59. The Ascension of Christ 

I. Historical remarks. From the earliest days the fortieth day 
after Easter was celebrated as the feast of the Ascension. Tertul- 
lian and Origen, it is true, do not mention it in their catalogue of 
feasts, but Socrates 1 gives testimony thereto in the middle of the 
fourth century, as 770,^877^0? ioprr], as a general feast. We also 
possess a whole series of sermons on this day by the Fathers. 
Silvia Peregrina gives us an account from Jerusalem of a grand cel- 
ebration. On Wednesday, about noon, they marched to Bethle- 
hem, and on Thursday celebrated there divine service. It was a 
sort of a retrospect of the life of Jesus. Silvia says nothing of a 
celebration on Mt. Olive, but of this we have accounts, dating from 
the eighth century. The custom of celebrating the feast of the 
Ascension with an outdoor procession dates from most ancient 
times. The octave is of a later origin. (Kellner, Heortologie, 
p. 71.) 

1 Hist. Eccles. VII, 26. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



II. Homiletic liturgical remarks. The liturgy is entirely and 
completely dominated by 

A . A celebration of the fact of the Ascension. (See the Epistle 
and the Gospel.) 

(a) The fact itself . 

(b) The retrospect of the life of Christ. (See the paragraph on 
the vigil.) 

(c) A glance into the future of the Kingdom of Jesus. 
Next, there appears in the liturgy 

B. The essence of the fact of the Ascension. For this the les- 
sons of the second nocturn of the feast and its octave afford very 
rich material. One point is especially emphasized which the 
preachers of the present day consider too little: the final glorifica- 
tion and exaltation of the human nature of Christ : Super excelsa coeli 
terrenum corpus imponitur: Ossa inter sepulchri angustias paulo 
ante conclusa angelorum coetibus inferuntur: in gremium immor- 
talitatis mortalis natura transfunditur. (Augustinus, II. noct. of 
the octave.) Therein is contained likewise an immense honor to 
human nature in general, which itself is to be resurrected and glori- 
fied in soul and in body. (See p. 350, § 37a; also p. 499.) 

The fact of the Ascension, the glorious essence of the fact, the 
thoughts of the Fathers thereon and also the entire dogmatic and 
ascetic treatment of the same St. Thomas has united and divided 
into one admirable whole (III. Q. 57 de ascensione Christi). We 
desire to draw the preacher's attention to this quaestio in six articles, 
most earnestly, because it is a most appropriate gathering of homi- 
letic and sketching material (Cf . also Portmann, System der Summe, 
p. 310; Sheeben Dogma., III. vol., pp.307 and 1233 sqq.). There you 
will also find (n. 1235) an important advice in regard to the exegesis 
of the ancient theologians, which they explained to us in the sense 
of the ptolemaic system of the world, and who interpreted, in a 
biased manner, the scriptural mode of expression accommodated to 
a view in conformity to our senses. St. Thomas developed the 
dogma of the Ascension as follows : Heaven is due to the glorified 
Christ and also to His glorified humanity (a. 1). He ascends into 
heaven by the power of His glorified soul, which directs and carries 
the body whithersoever she wills (a. 2). Thither He ascends amidst 
the homage of the whole universe and of entire nature as its 
glorious King (a. 3, modern exegesis). There He enters amidst 
the homage of the jubilation of the spirit world (a. 4). Thither He 



494 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ascends as the cause of our salvation: mentem nostram in ipsum 
movens (Cf . also the orations) — viam nostram in coelum pandens. 
(Compare the rich and practical article VI, which alone contains 
within itself a series of themes.) As a completion of this thought 
quaestio 58, on the reign of Christ, may also serve the purpose very 
well. (See also the Rom. Catechism, p. 1, c. VII, q. 7.) In the 
spirit of these thoughts we may rejoice with the communio of the 
mass of the feast : Psallite Domino qui ascenditur super coelos coelorum 
ad Orientem: Alleluia! In the spirit of these thoughts the preacher 
might also construct, from the dogma of the feast, practical ways 
into the life of the world and of the people : the ascension of Christ 
and the world poor in faith — Christ's ascension and humanity 
weak in will, for which Christ has accomplished a gigantic work 
and which He strengthens through the Holy Ghost for a gigantic 
work and conflict — Christ's ascension and those overtaken by 
misfortune, by suffering and death (did not Christ likewise suffer 
and die and then entered into His glory?). Christ's ascension and the 
ways of divine providence — all these are ways of thoughts on 
which the individual soul may be approached and very closely 
approached. (See p. 688, n. 12.) 

These explanations may serve as an admonition to the preacher 
on Ascension-day not to draw here simply from diverted little brooks, 
but to strike water directly from the rock, which is Christ, through 
the Gospel, the liturgy, the Fathers, and the great theologians. 

The Sunday within the octave of the Ascension is a suitable 
occasion to instruct the people about the novena of Pentecost, lasting 
from the evening of Ascension to the morning of Pentecost. It is 
really the first novena arranged by Christ Himself for the Apostles, 
and seriously recommended to us as the prototype of all Christian 
novenas. This novena is sacred and venerable on account of its 
founder, on account of its first participants, and on account of its 
object — of the Holy Ghost Himself and on account of the special 
desire of the Pope in modern times. (See Meschler: The Gift of 
Pentecost, p. 491 sqq.) The preacher should strive to interest the 
people especially in the pentecostal thoughts of the one fold and 
one shepherd, for missions and conversions. The Sunday infra 
octavam is appropriate for a field of such ideas. It shows us 

(a) The prayer to the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, Who continues 
the life and work of Christ, in union with Mary and the Apostles, in 
the room of the Last Supper : exaudi Domine vocem meam, qua clamavi 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



ad te, quaesivi vultum tuum Domine, ne avertas facietn tuam a me! 
(Introit, Ps. 26.) These are the words of an inexpressible longing 
after the countenance, after the vision of Christ again, Who is parted 
from us. The Holy Ghost will show us again the veiled Christ Who 
abides with us, and after a little while will show Him unveiled. 
We then pray especially for those who stand afar, who are without. 
The Sunday shows us 

(b) Confidence in the Holy Ghost, Who is promised to the 
Church through and in the Apostles (see the Gospel), 

(c) Life in the Holy Ghost, according to the example of Mary 
and of the Apostles (see the Epistle). 

The vigil of Pentecost is the renewal of the thoughts of Holy 
Saturday, interwoven with pentecostal thoughts (see §43, p. 386 
sqq. and § 44, p. 398 sqq.). 

§ 60. Pentecost 

Historical Remarks 

1. Pentecost as a period of time. Pentecoste — the Greek 
expression, was likewise preferred by the Latin people and has been 
retained to this day as a liturgical name. It signifies properly the 
fiftieth day after Easter, but also a period of fifty days. It is equiva- 
lent to the Latin Quinquagesima. But this Quinquagesima must 
not be confounded with Quinquagesima of the time that precedes 
Lent. The Jewish Pentecost was called a weekly feast, because 
it was celebrated immediately after the end of the seven weeks 
after Easter. Later on the name Pentecost was adopted into the 
Judaic-Greek language. It was the feast of the promulgation of the 
Law on Sinai, the birthday of the mosaic Church, and at the same 
time the harvest feast. Divine providence designedly arranged the 
sending of the Holy Ghost precisely on this day, on which the Israel- 
ites and the proselytes gathered from all countries and thus became 
witnesses of the birthday of the Church of the New Testament 
and of the first supernatural harvest. This happened on the fiftieth 
day after the resurrection of the Lord, "when the days of the Pente- 
cost were accomplished." (Acts of the Apostles 2: 1): cum com- 
pter entur dies Pentecostes. 1 This conception brought the liturgical 
thought very closely that Pentecost is the conclusion of Easter — 

1 The Greek text makes Pentecost the fiftieth day — Pentecost, also the con- 
clusion and accomplishment of fifty days. 



496 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the fulness of Easter — high Easter. The sending of the Holy 
Ghost is the last act of the Risen Saviour, with which He blesses us 
from high heaven. The Risen Christ sends the Holy Ghost. There- 
fore, originally and for a long time, Pentecost had no octave. It 
was a magnificent and solemn conclusion of Easter — pentecoste — of 
the Easter time. Even today this concept partly obtains, though 
now it has its octave. Only with the masses of the Saturday after 
Pentecost does the Easter celebration of the offices disappear and 
the rubric says: terminatur temptis paschale. (See the Italian name 
"pasqua rossa.") 

2. Pentecoste as the feast of Pentecost. The time of the fifty 
days was always considered a festive time. The feast of Pentecost 
was certainly known from most ancient times. Whether I. Cor. 
16: 8 meant the Judaic or the Christian Pentecost is uncertain. 
Proofs for a feast during the first century are wanting. A frag- 
mentary writing, which is attributed to Irenaeus, maintains an Apos- 
tolic origin of the feast. 1 Origen, the Canons of Hip poly t and the 
Apostolic Constitutions , mention a feast of Pentecost. Silvia, the 
pilgrim of Bordeaux, gives an account of a grand and definitely 
regulated feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem, with a nocturnal vigil 
and early services in the Anastasis church, with a solemn procession 
to Sion, where the chapter of the Acts of the Apostles on the de- 
scent of the Holy Ghost was read, and with a celebration on Mt. 
Olive and in the garden of Olives where Vespers were chanted and 
from which place the procession returned late in the evening, with 
a torchlight procession, back to the principal church. 

§ 6i. Pentecost 

Homiletic-liturgicdl Remarks 

i. Pentecost, the feast of Christ and of the Holy Ghost. Pente- 
cost is the fourth solemn feast. It is the feast of the last act of the 
Risen Christ: Qui ascendens super omnes coelos, sedensque ad dex- 
ter am Tuam promissum Spiritum Sanctum infilios adoptionis ejfudit: 
quapropter profusis gaudiis totus in orbe ten arum mundus exidtat. 
(Preface of Pentecost.) But Pentecost is also the feast of the Holy 
Ghost, of His divine person and activity : Diem sacratissimum Pen- 
tecostes celebr antes quo Spiritus Sanctus Apostolis innumeris Unguis 
apparuit. (Communicantes — of the canon of Pentecost.) Pente- 
1 Irenaeus, Fragm. VII, ed. Stieren, I. 827. See Kellner, Hiertol., p. 73. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 497 



cost is, finally, the harvest feast of the Church, the feast of the first 
harvest and the solemn commemoration of all the harvest of the 
Church, to the very last and the greatest on the last day. Pente- 
cost is the birthday of the Church. But since the Church appears 
in the Gospel as having been already founded and established and 
carries within herself the immortal essence of life, therefore Pente- 
cost, according to another concept, is the day of the dedication of 
the Church; Epiphany was her birthday. We also designate 
Pentecost as the day of the sailing of the bark of the Church upon 
the ocean of this world. 

2. Pentecost — the feast of the Holy Ghost. In the foreground 
of the entire celebration appears, however, the Holy Ghost Him- 
self, His person and His glorious and solemn mission. We honor 
the loveliness of His person and of His immense activity. The 
office is a canticle in honor of the Holy Ghost and of His effusion, 
of His being and of His gifts. The psalms of the feast, considered 
in the light of their antiphons, are, from this viewpoint especially, 
worthy of study. (See Wolters: Psallite sapienter.) In the Introit 
the mass contains the pentecostal cry, in the Epistle the pentecostal 
fact, in the Gospel the pentecostal life, in the orations, and espe- 
cially in the splendid sequence: Veni Sancte Spiritus, et emitte 
coelitus, the pentecostal petitions. A special celebration is also 
contained in the terce of the pentecostal office. 

Still, in spite of these guiding principal thoughts, the office of 
the Holy Ghost can be less systematized, according to a definite 
series of thoughts, than any other. Of the office the declaration of 
the Lord, concerning the Holy Ghost Himself, may be applied in 
a certain sense: Spiritus ubi vult spiral et nescis unde veniat et quo 
vadat. (John 3:8.) 

We shall, therefore, strive to gather the fires of the tongues of 
the pentecostal celebration into a focus, as it were, under a some- 
what freer paraphrasing of the liturgy. We shall thereby combine 
the thoughts of the dogma and the emotions of the liturgy into one 
whole. We mean: the Home of the Holy Ghost. 

§ 62. The Home oe the Holy Ghost 

"Alleluia, the Spirit of the Lord filleth the whole world! Come, 
let us adore Him! Alleluia!" Thus there swells up from the roar- 
rag of the pentecostal storm, and amidst the lightning of the fiery 



498 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



flames of the tongues the Pentecostal cry of the Church, and is 
carried out into the wide world. With this joyous cry the ofhce and 
the mass of the fourth solemn feast begin. Pentecost is High- 
Easter, the last glorious Easter blossom: it brings the Easter har- 
vest ready to be cut. Therefore, the liturgical Eastertide ends 
only on the Saturday after Pentecost with the conclusion of the 
higher Pentecost octave, which is itself inaugurated by the morning 
celebration of the vigil of Pentecost and dies away with the nones 
of Pentecost Saturday. Then only does the ecclesiastical year 
return to its ordinary course : until now all is a still, glowing Easter 
light. This is likewise solemnly proclaimed by the preface of Pente- 
cost, which ascribes the glorious pentecostal deed and the entire 
pentecostal mystery to the Risen Saviour: "Who ascending above all 
the heavens and seated at the right hand of the Father, poured out 
on this day the promised Holy Spirit upon all the children of love." 
And, again, as mentioned in the Invitatorium and Introit, there 
resounds upon the surging waves, stirred up by the roaring pente- 
costal winds, a solemn festive joy throughout the sacred song: 
Quapropter profusis gaudiis lotus in orbe ten arum mundus exultat! 
And justly so. Through the Holy Ghost Who descends upon the 
Church and abides in her, the gigantic work of Christ and the fruit 
of the redemption through Him are secured for all times, for all 
people, and all souls: Alleluia, the Spirit of the Lord filleth the 
whole world." 

From the roaring of the chasing winds, from the lightning of 
the flames of tongues, and from all the glory and the greatness of 
the pentecostal wonders we, however, guided by the liturgy, ascend 
first to the divine Spirit Himself, to the author of all these wonders, 
graces, gifts, and joys : Venite odor emus ! 

The pentecostal feast is primarily in honor of the Holy Ghost. 
This is but just and right. For alas ! the person of the Holy Ghost 
is too little known even among Christians. We are now and then 
almost reminded of the words of the men of Ephesus who, in response 
to the question of St. Paul: Whether they had received the Holy 
Ghost, replied: "We have not even heard that there is a Holy 
Ghost." (Acts 19: 2.) It is comparatively easy to speak of the 
acts and the works of the Holy Ghost, but it is difficult to say some- 
thing graceful about the person of the Holy Ghost Himself. "The 
Holy Ghost does not meet us like the Son, as a conceivable child 
of man, upon the road of this terrestrial life: He dwells in the inex- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



plorable depths of the divinity (John 3:8), and in our hearts also. 
His activity is exercised in the quiet chambers of feelings. He is, 
as it were, the wonderfully planned abyss of the divinity and of 
our souls — who can comprehend Him? But the more do we covet 
to see the countenance of the uncreated love, from which all good 
proceeds." 1 Even the angels long to see the countenance of the 
Holy Ghost, as St. Peter testifies (I. Pet. 1: 12): "on Whom (the 
Holy Ghost) the angels desire to look." Thus Pentecost is prim- 
arily for the priests an invitation to delve into the depths of the 
dogma concerning the Holy Ghost, and there to permit the entire 
religion and ascetics to act upon us for a time, especially during 
this solemn festive octave, in the light of the Holy Ghost. This 
would also diffuse over us, in our activity of preaching and hearing 
confessions, illuminating pentecosta] flames. Do not object and say : 
This is soaring too high. Though the homilist were to intersperse 
into his sermons a few high and mysterious thoughts on the Holy 
Ghost in order that his hearers might pause in an adoring, admiring, 
and an overwhelming manner before the exalted third person of 
the Blessed Trinity, it would by no means be a mistake against 
legitimate popularity. No one preached more popularly than the 
Saviour Himself. And yet deep, inscrutable, and overpowering 
thoughts on the Holy Ghost and the Blessed Trinity often flash 
through His addresses, so that we hold our breath in astonishment 
and say: He speaks divine things indeed. These are flaring flames 
of fire from the ocean of the flames of divine love — which is the 
Holy Ghost Himself. Of course, we must presently descend from 
these heights again into the concrete and popular life of souls, as 
the Holy Ghost Himself Who gathers His first Pentecostal harvest 
amidst the roaring of the pentecostal hurricane and amidst the 
flashing of fiery tongues, enters into the souls of the Apostles, seizes 
them in their inmost marrow and smallest fiber, and transforms 
them and, through them, thousands of souls in a touching and over- 
whelming manner. Delving into a tract of dogma, which has 
drawn largely from the bottomless fountain of Holy Scripture, 
indicates always a fructifying source for a sermon and for the con- 
fessional, both directly and indirectly. The great indispensable 
principle of the preacher, which St. Paul proclaims in the letter to 
the Romans, is this: Justus meus ex fide vivit. My just man lives 
by faith. The roots of Christian morality penetrate, like the tree 
1 Meschler, The Gift of Pentecost, p. 2. (3rd. ed.) 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



upon a rock, deeply into precious stones and into the fertile soil of 
dogma, and suck from hidden sources their perennial power. For 
this purpose, however, dogma must not merely be studied with 
the intellect: as there is a scriptural reading that seeks edification 
and still is an exegetic earnest reading of Scripture — so there is 
likewise a penetration into dogma that seeks edification. And, 
moreover, if God has revealed to us some things of the inmost 
mysteries of the Blessed Trinity, may we not read them? One does 
not reveal family secrets to a stranger on the wayside. But if God 
has revealed to us some of the deepest of His mysteries, it is a sign 
that we are His friends: "I will not call you servants, for the ser- 
vant knoweth not what his lord doeth. But I have called you 
friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard from my 
Father, I have made known to you." (John 15: 15.) We recom- 
mend on this occasion most urgently the classical little work of 
Meschler to the clergy: The Gifts of Pentecost. The reading or 
meditation of this splendid work will explain the object of these 
lines better than words can. From this book, which speaks in 
a higher and more theologically cultured attractive popularity to 
the reader, whole parts might be translated into popular eloquence 
for the people, — an inviting task for individual activity and prep- 
aration for the preaching office. We speak here of the home of 
the Holy Ghost. 

1. The Home in Heaven. The first and the true Home of the 
Holy Ghost is the depth of the divinity: Heaven. 

The Father and the Son recognize each other from all eternity. 
They fathom their infinite essence. The light of recognition flows 
from the one to the other. But from the mutual cognition there 
arises from all eternity — an infinite mutual love. Love can per- 
form within man also gigantic work. Think of the love of a John, 
a Paul, an Augustin, a Bernard, a Francis, and of a Philipp of 
Neri! and yet all-created love, down to the fiery affections of a 
cherub, is but a passing breath — and even the supernatural power 
of love and the habit of love {virtus infusa) is but a supernatural 
property of the soul. But in God, between the Father and the 
Son, love is so powerful, so omnipotent, so interiorly alive, so great 
and essential — not a mere passing breath or a mere power, ever 
so grand or conceived — that from all eternity it is an infinite 
living person. And this eternal, infinite love which is a person, 
is the Holy Ghost, the divine fruit of the love of the Father and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 501 

of the Son, the Holy Ghost, Who proceeds equally from the Father 
and from the Son — the breath, the respiration, the expression, 
and the bearer of the life and of the love of God. It is the property 
of love to communicate, to diffuse, and to spend itself. But the 
Father possesses all, and like Him, so, too, does the Son possess 
the divine life Thus the Father and the Son give from all eter- 
nity — in eternal love the fulness and the boundless ocean of their 
common nature to a third person, which they breathe and pour 
forth, as it were, from the fulness of their common heart: the 
Holy Ghost, the third, independent, and perfect bearer, possessor 
and owner of the divine nature: the immense light and flaming 
love, of which every supernatural love in the heart of man is but 
a flame and wave in likeness. Such is Pentecost in Heaven: the 
Home of the Holy Ghost, in the profundity of the divinity. These 
are the gates of its eternal exit! Venite adoremus! 

2. The Home in nature. Again, the Home of the Holy Ghost 
is nature. When the first creative act was accomplished, when 
the earliest morning mists of the cosmos had been lifted, then — so 
tells us the book of Genesis — "the earth was void and empty, 
and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God 
moved (fructified, formed, gave life and love l ) over the waters." 
This is the first mysterious word of Holy Scripture on the Holy 
Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the great former, vivifier, and developer 
of nature. Psalm 103 (104), which is read in the nocturn of 
the office of Pentecost, describes in a grand manner the Home of 
the Holy Ghost in nature; the psalm belongs also, from a linguistic 
point of view, to the most exalted descriptions of nature existing. 
This idea is well adapted to our modern times. The gigantic 
progress made in natural science is evidently a breathing of the 
Holy Ghost over our generation. Moving upon the dark abyss 
of nature the Holy Ghost cries out to the spirit of man: Let there 
be light! Therefore, precisely, is the intentional tearing away of 
the noble science of nature from God a veritable blasphemy — a 
sin against the Holy Ghost! God grant that the pentecostal 
flames may fail upon the explorers of nature! May the pente- 
costal light illumine many wide circles and make them perceive 
that nature is the Home of the Holy Ghost. (See p. 104.) 

1 See the Hebrew text of Gen. 1, 2; compare also Psalm 32: 6; Ps. 103: 27; John 
26: 13 and the splendid imitation in poetry of this psalm by Stork, Die Psalmen in 
stabreimenden Langzeilen. (Aschendorffmuenster.) 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



3. A home in the Church. A still more glorious Home of the 
Holy Ghost is in the Catholic Church. This is described to us in 
the Epistle of the feast taken from the Acts of the Apostles. The 
Lord had carefully planned the Church from the very first step of 
His life and established, organized, and completed her and infused 
life into her (p. 4). But the boat of the Church still lies anchored 
upon the strand of the world. No wheel is turned, no sail inflated. 
Pentecost now dawns: the builder of the boat, Christ Jesus, now 
redeems His divine pledge. The Holy Ghost descends amidst the 
roaring of the winds. See how the sails are swelling, how every- 
thing puts on life and motion. The Vicar of Christ, Peter, stands 
at the helm. At his pentecostal word the first thousands enter: 
representatives of all countries, — as the Acts of the Apostles tes- 
tify. Happy course, oh, holy Church of the Lord! The Spirit of 
truth is with thee: Alleluia, the Spirit of the Lord nlleth the whole 
universe. And now, in the twentieth century, the gigantic boat 
is still floating upon the ocean of the world, in spite of the storms 
of the past and of the future, and establishes stations in all parts 
of the world. And when the hand of an aged great Pope sinks 
from the rudder, the invisible pilot of the Church cannot die, and, 
while the world laments the illustrious dead, He finds again the 
invisible pilot of His boat: it is His home. Such is Pentecost on 
earth: " Alleluia, the Spirit of the Lord nlleth the universe: come, 
let us adore Him!" 1 

4. The home in the soul. The Holy Ghost has still another 
home — the depths of the human soul. We will not now describe 
extensively what He accomplishes therein in a mysterious manner. 
Beautifully, beyond conception, does the Gospel of Pentecost and 
that glorious sequence, called after its beginning words: Veni, 
Sancte Spiritus! paint it. He, the great Holy Spirit, enters into 
the quiet depths of our hearts. He cultivates the fruitful field, 
the constantly increasing rich and heavenly soil of the Christian 
soul: sanctifying grace. Heavenly supernatural seed does He 
scatter into this holy land: the infused supernatural virtues, that 
they might develop, in spite of all storms and battles, with our 
co-operation and cultivation into a Christian character. And in 
order that this development and growth might be accomplished 
more richly and more fully and more joyfully and more decisively, 
therefore does He send His sevenfold gifts like the fructifying 

1 On sermons for Pentecost, see p. 555 sqq. and 764 sqq., also pp. 13-27, p. 448 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 503 



breezes of a spring. And as God dispenses upon nature the dew 
and rain and sunshine and a thousand other aids, according to 
wisely created laws, in due time, so does the Holy Ghost bestow 
upon the supernatural kingdom untold help and actual graces, 
illuminations, inspirations, fiery tongues, and pentecostal flames, 
supernatural sunshine, dew and rain from above, also terrifying, 
dazzling, and glaring lightning which warn and awaken, thunder- 
claps and electric storms — yet so that to those who love God all 
things turn out for the best. And whithersoever, through dire 
need of the times, His holy Church cannot penetrate, there the 
Holy Ghost, the invisible regent and dispenser of graces breathes, 
often quietly, so that no one knoweth whence He cometh or whither 
He goeth. Upon unknown paths He leads to great conversions, 
or He unites with His Church in a spiritual manner and with sal- 
vation upon extraordinary ways honest souls of good faith, who 
follow His motions and, without their own fault, fail to enter the 
bosom of the Church. All this is again the Home of the Holy 
Ghost, "of the Father of the poor," of the "dispenser of gifts," 
of the "light of hearts," of the "best of all comforters." Veni, 
Sancte Spiritus . . . dulcis hospes animae! O nearest and inmost 
home of the Holy Ghost, hail! It is therefore just and right, be- 
coming and wholesome, that we dedicate, with a most solemn 
liturgy, the octave of Pentecost to the Holy Ghost: It is the 
most beautiful and most worthy homage of Him. The office 
is a solemn canticle in His honor, in honor of His essence and 
works. The Introit of the mass proclaims the joyful pentecostal 
cry, the Epistle the fact of Pentecost, the Gospel its life, the 
preface its jubilating gratitude, the orations and the sequence 
the holy pentecostal petitions, the fast, so exceptionally proper 
to this festive octave, the pentecostal seriousness: The bride- 
groom (Christ), as the Saviour once said, is now taken from 
the disciples, 'and therefore they fast! The boat of the Church 
launches forth — it brings peace, and yet, it is a battleship. With 
the Alleluia there is mingled the pentecostal cry of the ecclesia 
militans. 

But, with the Church we pray and we address the exalted Spirit 
thus: 

Da virtutis meritum 
Da salutis exitum, 
Da perenne gaudium! 
Amen! Alleluia! 



504 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 63. The Octave of Pentecost 

The octave of Pentecost is constructed similarly to that of 
Easter: each day has its own festive mass. The Epistle, like that 
of Easter, is mainly taken from the Acts of the Apostles. With 
the festive commemoration of the Holy Ghost baptismal thoughts 
are interspersed. (See the Introits.) The first three days, like in 
the Easter octave, are days of great solemnity. Thursday shows 
likewise a great similarity to Sunday. Very interesting also are 
the relations of the thoughts of the Introit of Pentecost Monday 
to those of Easter Monday. The Roman stations of the feasts 
prefer the churches of St. Peter and of the Apostles. Very unique 
are the ember fast-days which are inserted into this week. (See 
above, p. 274 sqq.) We shall sketch the connection of these 
thoughts as follows: 

1. Feria secunda. The Holy Ghost and the faith of Christ. 
The Holy Ghost emphasizes and demands, above all, as did Christ, 
faith as the initium salutis, and condemns infidelity: the Gospel 
renders a chapter of the conversation with Nicodemus on faith 
(John, c. 3.) : Qui credit in eum, non judicatur: qui autem non 
credit, jam judicatus est. . . . Hoc est autem judicium: quia lux 
venit in mundum et delixerunt homines magis tenebras, quam lucem. 
The truth, this light of Christ, is preserved by the Holy Ghost: 
Spiritus Sanctus docebit vos, alleluia, quaecumque dixero vobis, 
alleluia, alleluia! {Communio). Wherever faith is, thither does the 
Holy Ghost descend (the Epistle), there grace operates, there the 
works of light, the works of God, prosper (Gospel). Pentecost 
Monday is a solemn announcement of faith as the initium salutis 
et radix omnis justijicationis. The Holy Ghost announces that 
Christ continues to five in faith. (Cf. Index: faith.) 

2. Feria tertia. The Holy Ghost and the Church of Christ. 
Faith prospers in the Church under the true shepherds ordained 
by Christ: qui non intrat per ostium in ovile ovium, sed ascendit 
aliunde, ille fur est et latro. (Gospel, John 10.) Christ is the door. 
Ordination and the mission of the priests effect the entrance of the 
shepherds through the door, which is Christ, and that they thus 
announce the true faith and pasture and guard the sheep by the 
authority of Christ and, like Christ, give supernatural life. The 
Holy Ghost therefore provides the teaching office: ego sum ostium: 
per me si quis intrat, salvabitur. The Holy Ghost provides the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



office of the priesthood: ego veni ut vitam habeant et abundantius 
habeant. The Holy Ghost provides, as did Christ, the office of 
shepherds: ante oves vadit et oves ilium sequuntur, quia sciunt voceni 
ejus: alienum autem non sequuntur. These words of the Gospel 
are attributable to Christ, to the Holy Ghost, and to the followers 
of Christ who are called, ordained, and sent by the Holy Ghost 
into the Church. For all this we owe the Holy Ghost our deepest 
gratitude: Accipite jucunditatem gloriae vestrae, alleluia; gr alias 
agentes Deo, alleluia: qui nos ad coelestia regna vocavit. (Introit.) 
The Holy Ghost testifies that Christ continues to live in the 
Church. 

3. Feria quarta. The Holy Ghost and the grace of Christ. 
The Gospel, John 6, shows the life of grace which Christ has brought 
and which the Holy Ghost sustains and renews in the Church. 
The life of grace, however, is secured through the sacrament of 
the Altar, through the personally abiding Christ. We read in the 
Gospel of St. John, c. 6: Ego sum panis vitae. Hie est panis de 
coelo descendens: ut si quis ex ipso manducaverit non moriatur. Ego 
sum panis vivus, qui de coelo descendit. Si quis manducaverit ex 
hoc pane, vivet in aeternum: et panis quern ego dabo, caro mea est 
pro mundi vita. The Holy Ghost, whose coming and operations 
are mightily emphasized in the Epistles (Acts, c. 4 and 5), provides 
that through holy orders and consecration Christ, Who continues 
to live in the sacrament of the Altar, remain with us and with 
Him His grace. (On ember-days, see above, p. 292 sqq.) 

4. Feria quinta. The Holy Ghost and the servants, the repre- 
sentatives of Christ. The Gospel, according to Luke, c. 9, describes 
the vocation and the spirit of the representatives of Christ, the 
Epistle (Acts, c. 8) the operation of the representatives of Christ. 
The Holy Ghost provides that Christ continue to live in and 
through His several servants. Thus the words of Holy Scripture 
are fulfilled: Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum. (Introit.) 
Egressi autem circuibant per castella evangelizantes et curantes ubique. 
(Gospel.) 

5. Feria sexta. The Holy Ghost and the greatest evil — sin; 
the Holy Ghost and the remission of sin, in Christ. The Gospel 
narrates the touching history of the palsied man and of the word 
of divine love which Jesus then pronounced for the first time and 
which was verified, in a glorious manner, by a miracle: homo, 
remittuntur tibi peccata tua. . . . Ut autem sciatis, quia filius homi- 



506 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



nis habet potestatem in terra dimittendi peccata (ait paralytico) : Tibi 
dico surge . . . et confestim consurgens coram illis, tulit tectum, in quo 
jacebat: et abiit in domum suam. The Holy Ghost provides that 
the sons of men, even today, may pronounce this word of almighty 
love effectively: homo, remittuntur tibi peccata tua. For this pur- 
pose they receive the Holy Ghost. (John 20: 23, and pp. 334- 
330.) 

6. Sabbatum. The Holy Ghost and the physician for all ills. 
The concluding station is in St. Peter's. (See above, pp. 292, 293, 
295: The great night in St. Peter's.) The Gospel takes us to the 
home of Simon Peter at Capharnaum, where Jesus cures the sick 
mother-in-law of the Apostle. There, late in the evening, and until 
late into the night, the whole of Capharnaum gathered at the 
threshold of the house of Simon. The sun had already set and the 
shades of night had fallen upon the city and the lake. But Jesus, 
the glorious sun, the great light, which arose in Galilee (Isaias 9:1; 
see the I. nocturn of Christmas, p. 221, also p. 130), is still shining: 
He is solicitous about each one sick or in distress: He lays His 
hands upon every one individually. And into the stillness of the 
night the cry of the cast-out demons is heard: "Thou art the Son 
of God!" Is not this marvelous page of the Gospel (Luke 4) a 
grand picture of the Catholic Church, in which the Holy Ghost 
provides that Christ, the physician, still works unto the very end 
of all days? And when this Gospel was once announced in the 
great night in St. Peter's, in the very ancient basilica, and when 
it is still sung today in the new St. Peter's dome on Pentecost- 
day — then the Church of Peter — "this house of Simon — be- 
comes on this last Pentecost and Easter-day a grandiose image of 
that world-encircling house of Simon" — of the Catholic Church, 
in which Christ, the physician, continues to operate in the night 
of the world and takes cognizance of all evils. And gratefully do 
we rejoice and cry out on this last pentecostal and paschal cele- 
bration: Charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per inhabitan- 
tem Spiritum ejus in nobis, alleluia I (Introit of the mass) and through- 
out all ages are the grand words of Christ verified in the Church: 
Spiritus ubi vult spirat: et vocem ejus audis alleluia, alleluia, sed 
nescis, unde veniat aut quo vadat: alleluia, alleluia, alleluia 
(communio of Pentecost Saturday). After this cry of jubila- 
tion: exspirat tempus paschale (the Rubric after mass). (See p. 
501.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



§ 64. A Retrospect of Easter 

With the Saturday after Pentecost the grand Easter time ends. 
It began on Septuagesima, with the sighs of death : Circumdederunt 
me gemitus mortis. Now it ends in an immense Pentecostal jubi- 
lation: Quapropter profusis gaudiis totus in orbe terrarum mundus 
exultat. We will give once more a hurried review of the entire 
liturgical development of the opus redemptionis. 

1. The vineyard of God in the history of the world. (Septua- 
gesima: Gospel of the laborers in the vineyard.) 

2. The field of Christ. (Sexagesima: Gospel of the sower and 
of the seed.) 

3. The vineyard of God and the field for sowing, purchased and 
fructified through the Passion of Christ. (Quinquagesima : Gospel 
of Christ's proceeding to Jerusalem to suffer.) 

After this general and grand picture of the work of the redemp- 
tion, Ash Wednesday conducts us into the more proximate and 
serious celebration thereof. 

4. The collaboration of God and of men in the vineyard and the 
field of God. 

(a) On the part of God: the work of the redemption; and: 

(b) On the part of men: the work of conversion: penance, 
love, interior life. (Ash Wednesday and the following Trid- 
uum.) 

Now the work of the redemption, into the focus of which Christ 
Himself enters, is fully and entirely developed: it is a grand con- 
flict followed by a most glorious victory. 

5. Christ, our humiliated prototype, in the conflict. (I. Sun- 
day of Lent: Gospel of the temptation of Christ.) 

6. Christ our transfigured law-giver in battle. Our obedience 
to law: our examination of conscience, according to the law and 
our transfiguration through grace and the law of Christ. (II. Sun- 
day of Lent: Gospel of the transfiguration of Christ.) 

7. Christ Jesus the great victor in the battle. The stronger 
opposed to the strong Satan: our victory in confession. (III. Sunday 
of Lent: Gospel of the driving out of Satan.) 

8. Christ Jesus the host after the battle: He leads us, who 
have been liberated, to the banquet of victory in Holy Communion. 
(IV. Sunday of Lent: Gospel of the miraculous multiplication of 
the loaves, John 6.) 



508 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



After having contemplated the vineyard and the field of God, 
which Christ purchased through a most terrible battle, wherein 
He became our example, our lawgiver, our victor, and our host, — 
it may be asked: How did He conduct this victorious battle? 
Only as the High Priest in His Passion. Therefore, the liturgical 
trend of thoughts is developed as follows: 

9. Christ Jesus, the suffering High Priest, throughout the entire 
picture: the cross appears on Calvary as a balance, as an ark, as 
the tree of life, as the banner of victory, and behind it and upon 
it the crucified, the high-sacerdotal Victor. (Passion Sunday and 
Passion-week. The Gospel describes the Son of God, the Epistle 
the High Priest as the God-man.) 

10. Christ Jesus — the suffering High Priest, in separate pic- 
tures. We behold: 

(a) The march of triumph with palms and with the cross, in 
glory and in shame. (Palm Sunday.) 

(b) The Way of the Cross and all its Stations (the Passion). 

(c) Love to the end. (Holy Thursday.) 

(d) Love unto death. (Good Friday), and in fact: 

(a) The history of this atonement and love (the Passion, by 
the disciple of love) ; 

(Ji) The extension of this love (intercessary prayers) ; 

(y) The unveiling of this atonement and love (the unveiling 
of the cross, the irnproperia) ; 

(8) The fulfilment of this atonement and love (the missa 
Praesanctificatorum) . 

But after the stillness of the grave, around which the light of 
Easter is already playing, the liturgy likewise unfolds the glorious 
fact of the work of redemption. 

11. Jesus Christ risen — bring us: 

(a) New fire. 

(b) New light. 

(c) New life. 

These are the thoughts of Holy Saturday and of Easter night. 

12. Christ risen — announces the greatest fact of His life: 

(a) To death and to hell. 

(b) To heaven. 

(c) To the universe. 

(d) To enemies. 

(e) To friends. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(/) To the Church, which He completes and in which He renews 
us all: our resurrection. 

These are the fundamental thoughts of the feast of Easter and 
of the Easter octave. The Sundays after Easter unfold these 
still more according to various views. 

13. Christ risen — the author of our faith and the source of 
our grace: He brings peace of conscience, peace of communion, 
peace of the Sunday, eternal peace. (Low Sunday.) 

14. Christ risen — the Good Shepherd. (II. Sunday after Easter, 
the Gospel of the Good Shepherd.) 

15. Christ risen — takes leave. (III. Sunday after Easter: Gos- 
pel of a a little while.") 

16. Christ risen — consoles us. (IV. Sunday after Easter: Gos- 
pel of the comforter.) 

17. Christ risen — urges prayers in His name (the Sunday and 
week of prayer). 

18. Christ ascending into heaven (feast of the Ascension). 

19. Christ ascended — and yet abides through the Holy Ghost 
in His Church. (Sunday within the octave: Gospel of the com- 
forter Who is to be sent.) 

20. The Holy Ghost — sent by Christ risen. (Pentecost.) 
His. home is: 

(a) Heaven. 

(b) Nature. 

(c) The Church. 

{d) The human soul. He comes as the finisher of the work of 
the redemption, as the last glorious Easter gift, with all the fruits 
of a supernatural summer. 

He completes the work of Christ : the Church and her servants, 
faith, the remission of sins, redemption, salvation, grace, and 
glory. 

The harvest time of the Church is at hand. During the dark 
wintry night the great Light appeared and illuminated all: Nativitas 
Domini! Epiphania Domini! It taught us, it animated us, and 
then it appeared to disappear in the night of the Passion. On 
Easter it flared up victoriously, and the Holy Ghost puts it upon 
the meridian height, in order that it might ripen, within us, the 
most beautiful fruit of the Passion of Christ, the summer fruit of 
supernatural life and call us to a serious harvest work. (Octave 
of Pentecost.) 



HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



The house of Simon is finished and the Lord operates from this 
house, healing and saving through the Holy Ghost, from within 
and from without. But aU tends toward love, wherein our union 
with God and our perfection consists: charitas Dei diffusa est in 
cordibus nostris, alleluia, per inhabitantem Spiritum ejus in nobis, 
alleluia, alleluia! What Christmas desired to begin — ut in in- 
visibilium amorem rapiamur (preface of Christmas) ought now in 
a manner be finished: charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris 
per inhabitantem Spiritum ejus in nobis. (Introit of the Saturday 
after Pentecost, as a conclusion of the Easter celebration.) 

This entire gigantic work of the redemption, however, is a 
supernatural act of Christ, of which mere human reason knoweth 
not whence it cometh or whither it bloweth. And precisely this 
gigantic work of the supernatural the Holy Ghost accomplished 
among and in us, and His work is likewise a grand act which exceeds 
all human power: Spiritus ubi vult spirat, et vocem ejus audis: 
alleluia, alleluia; sed nescis unde veniat aut quo vadat: alleluia, 
alleluia, alleluia! With this Alleluia cry of an immense joy over 
the supernatural and the abiding and operating of Christ in us. 
guaranteed by the Holy Ghost, the Church concludes both the 
paschal and the pentecostal time at Holy Communion of the mass 
on Pentecost Saturday. 

Precisely these latter restrospective thoughts of the liturgy may 
easily be popularized. But the whole connection, from Septua- 
gesima to and with Pentecost, might be utilized as a basis for a 
cycle of liturgical, dogmatic, and moral sermons throughout the 
entire ecclesiastical time. 

§ 65. The Time after Pentecost 

I. The Sundays after Pentecost in general. Pentecost, with 
its octave, concludes the paschal time. The balance of the ecclesi- 
astical year is called the time after Pentecost, often Whitsuntide, 
or the pentecostal circle of Sundays. The Sundays and weeks 
after Pentecost are less connected among themselves and with the 
rest of the ecclesiastical year than all other times. First, there is 
no continuous historical matter for this part of the year. Then 
again, the present historic-ecclesiastical grouping originated much 
later than the other parts of the ecclesiastical year. During the 
first six centuries the ordinary Sunday, generally speaking, had 
no fully pronounced liturgical position — dominicae quotidianae. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



There existed for them a quasi Commune Dominicarum, a selection 
of Sundays and Votive masses. In the Gregorianum, at the end of 
the eighth century, the ecclesiastical year exhibits already pretty 
well the present formation. The Sundays after Pentecost, however, 
were still connected by other view-points, down to the middle age. 
Thus, f.L, a homiliary of Charles the Great counts but three Sun- 
days after Pentecost, seven after the feasts of SS. Peter and Paul, 
five after the feast of St. Laurence, the ember-week of September, 
six after the feast of St. Michael. Gradually a common calculation 
for the time after Pentecost was adopted, and this brought the 
Sundays and weeks into a common, larger, and more ideal connec- 
tion: they present the continuation of the life of Jesus on earth 
through the Holy Ghost — in other words: the continuation of the 
life and the operation of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ upon 
earth, the continuation of the life, the doctrine, and the grace of 
Jesus. Hereby the person of the Saviour comes entirely to the 
front — the idea of Pentecost remains hidden. 

II. The connection of the Sundays after Pentecost. The Sun- 
days after Pentecost present, above all in the Gospels, a continu- 
ation of the life of Jesus in the Church, and, in fact, in a more ideal, 
unconstrained, and yet emphatic connection. Now and then the 
lessons of the breviary correspond, in a striking manner, with the 
main thoughts of the Gospels or of the festive time, thus, f.i., 
the beautiful lessons on Samuel and the ark in Silo with the 
feast- of Corpus Christi. 

But a connection of thoughts between the various Sundays 
should not be too anxiously looked for. More surprising are the 
connections between the Introit, the Epistle, and the Gospel of the 
same Sunday, though here, also, the most obvious and fruitful, 
generally, are the great points of view, such as: dogma, faith (in 
the Gospel), moral, application (in the Epistle) — or: the grace of 
Christ (in the Gospel), the fruit of the grace (in the Epistle) — 
or: prayer for this grace (oration), joy over grace (in the Introit 
and communion) — or: the demand of Christ (in the Gospel), the 
execution of the demand (in the Epistle). 

Often a single verse of the Epistle fits closely into some central 
thought of the Gospel. And probably the Epistle was precisely 
chosen on this account. 

Three periods of these Sundays might properly be distinguished, 
with Amberger: 



512 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

(a) The closer pentecostal cycle, from Pentecost to the first 
week of August: it presents the propagation and intensification of 
the Kingdom of Christ. 

(b) The time from the first Sunday of August to the last Sun- 
day of October: it describes the blessed activity in the Kingdom of 
Christ; herewith the commonly occurring lessons of the first and 
the second nocturns correspond. During this time occurs like- 
wise the beautiful summer feast of the Assumption of the Blessed 
Virgin Mary who, after a most complete and exalted and blessed 
activity in the redemption through Christ and in His Kingdom — 
is taken up into heaven. 

(c) From the first Sunday of November to the first Sunday of 
Advent: this presents the completion and the conclusion of the king- 
dom of Christ. In favor of this idea, we have: 

(a) The feasts of All Saints and All Souls: the Church militant 
passes into the Church suffering and triumphant. 

(/}) The lessons from the prophets Ezekiel, Daniel, and the 
minor prophets who point mainly to the completion and the end 
of all things. 

(y) Many Gospels, and, above all, the last Sunday of the eccle- 
siastical year, which brings before us the end of the world and 
the last Judgment: The Introit gathers once more the intentions 
of God of the whole ecclesiastical year: Dixit Dominus, ego cogito 
cogitationes pads. 

III. The feast-days after Pentecost. A series of feast-days 
have been inserted into the time of Pentecost, which partly com- 
plete, with an intentional sequence, the thoughts of Pentecost, 
and have partly and merely accidentally crept into the pentecostal 
circle, but are in a marvelous harmony with its fundamental 
thoughts. 

(a) The first consequentially formed series of feasts consists 
of the feast of the Blessed Trinity, the feast of Corpus Christi and 
of the Sacred Heart. After the great work of the redemption is 
accomplished, but perfected by the Holy Ghost and guaranteed 
both in the Church and in the souls of all times, we look up to : 

(a) The author and the perfector of the entire and great work 
and Kingdom of Christ, to the ever Blessed Trinity. (Sunday of 
the Blessed Trinity.) Then we descend again to the Kingdom of 
Christ on earth and we find : 

The continuation of the life and the operation of Christ 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 513 

through His power in the Church — during the whole -Whitsuntide. 
Herein we celebrate: 

(y) The continuation of the life of Jesus in His person in the 
most adorable sacrament of the Altar : Corpus Christi — and 

(8) The deepest soil, the deepest root of this continuation of 
the life of Jesus amongst and in us — His love as our Redeemer, 
the heart of the Redeemer: the feast of the Sacred Heart. 

(b) The second, more accidental, yet surprisingly harmonious 
connecting series of feasts constitute the festive celebrations of 
the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, the Assumption of the Blessed 
Mother Mary, the feast of the Holy Rosary, and of All Saints. 
We see: 

(a) The continuation of the life of Jesus through the Church 
of Christ, i.e., through the primacy, the Apostolate and the epis- 
copate: the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul is really the feast 
of the Church, of its primacy and apostolicity. We see furthermore : 
The continuation of the life of Jesus through the imitation 
of Christ: no one ever followed so perfectly into the footsteps of 
Christ as did our great Mother Mary: therefore, the life of Mary, 
the Marian ecclesiastical year, and the end of the life of Mary on 
the feast of the Assumption of Mary passes before our souls once 
more — Mary is the most glorious prototype and example of the 
imitation of the Lord, of the contemplative and the active life 
(see the Gospel); but, at the same time also, the first intercessor, 
protectrix, and fosterer of our imitation of Christ : She has chosen, 
considered from all sides, the best part. (Gospel.) 

The Church develops also finally: 

(y) Two whole pictures of the continuation of the life of Christ. 

The two last great feasts of the ecclesiastical year furnish, in 
fact, an entire picture of the life of Christ and of the imitation of 
the life of Christ. After the Church celebrated the entire life of 
Christ and of the Blessed Mother during the ecclesiastical year, she 
weaves once more all these mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary 
into one devotion and one feast: into the devotion and the feast 
of the Holy Rosary. 

The ecclesiastical year reaches its end. The sun which arose 
within it and the light which illumined it is — Christ Jesus. We 
should all absorb within ourselves the rays of this light. We should 
all become transformed during the course of the ecclesiastical year, 
aye, Christ Himself should be formed within us. The numerous 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



feasts of saints, which are interwoven into the ecclesiastical year, 
are so many encouragements and assurances that this is possible. 
"The rays of Christ are divided by falling upon the earth and 
upon souls, and they are scattered, but not lost. One ray falls 
upon this soul, another upon another soul: in the one it clothes 
itself, the other it brightens again, and such is the peculiarity of 
its supernatural beauty and glory." 1 At the end of the ecclesias- 
tical year, however, the Church gathers all into one large picture 
of the imitation of Christ on the feast of All Saints: "All the saints 
form again one glorious and immense rainbow, the exalted image 
of Christ : but each saint yields again, like the individual dew and 
raindrop, but one ray of the immeasurable central sun — Christ 
Jesus. The unity consists in the central sun, which is Christ, the 
diversity is displayed in the various groups of the saints and in 
every individual part of these groups. . . . Thus the saints and 
the feast of All Saints are merely the living expression of the doc- 
trine of the grace and of the example of the life of our Lord." 2 

From this general connection we shall select some days, some 
feasts and festivals, in a particular manner, because they are espe- 
cially important for the hornilist and exact from him peculiar 
considerations. 

§ 66. The First Sunday after the Octave op Pentecost 

A. The first Sunday after Pentecost, or the condensation of the 
moral law of the ecclesiastical year: Love, and especially the love 
of neighbor. In ancient times the first Sunday after Pentecost, 
the present Trinity Sunday, had no special higher rank among 
feasts. Though now and then called Dominica octavae pentecostes, 
still the pentecostal octave closed with the morning, respectively, 
the night service of the Saturday of Pentecost, of which the last 
service only ended early on Sunday morning. (See pp. 275 and 
277 sqq.) The Dominica L p. P., of which the formula is still in 
the missal and is commemorated, takes up the thought of love and 
of mercy with which the octave of Pentecost was closed (pp. 507 
and 511). The Holy Ghost had diffused the law of God into our 
hearts: therefore, Ave, too, should walk in the spirit of love. The 
Epistle, I John, c. 4, gathers once more the central thought of the 
ecclesiastical year: the love of God; Carissimi: Deus caritas est. 

1 Meschler, Life of Jesus, II. vol. The saints of the Church of Christ. 

2 Meschler, Life of Christ, I. C. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 515 

In hoc apparuit caritas Dei in nobis, quoniam Filiuni suum Uni- 
genitum misit Deus in mundum, ut vivamus per eum. . . . Then fol- 
lows, in the Epistle and the Gospel, the answer to this love of God : 
our love of neighbor. Carissimi, si sic Deus dilexit nos, et nos 
debemus diligere alterutrum. Si diligamus invicem Deus in nobis 
manet, et caritas ejus perfecta est. (Epistle.) Estote miser icordes, 
sicut et Pater vester misericors est, etc. (Gospel, Luke, c. 6.) Thus 
the first Sunday after Pentecost condenses, once more indeed, the 
whole moral law of the ecclesiastical year into the principal law of 
love, but emphasizes especially — in answer to the love of God 
for man — our love of man. (See the whole tenor of the 
Epistle.) 

These thoughts might also be partly treated, in various ways, 
in connection with the thought of the Blessed Trinity. 

In connection with these thoughts some retrospective sermons 
of the ecclesiastical year might also be delivered, f.i., 

(a) A retrospect of the week of Pentecost: an entire picture or 
only the Saturday after Pentecost. (See pp. 496 sqq., and 507.) 

(b) A retrospect of Eastertide. (See a selection from the series 
of thoughts in § 64, p. 508 sqq., f.i., our walking from Easter to 
Pentecost with Christ.) 

(c) Our love in answer to the divine love. (See above, point A y 
and Pentecost Saturday, p. 507.) 

B. Trinity Sunday, or the condensation of the doctrines of 
faith and the ecclesiastical year. Reports of the tenth century 
recount that already in those days a votive mass de Trinitate was 
celebrated preferably on the first Sunday after Pentecost, and here 
and there an entire office de Trinitate was recited. Even the Gre- 
gorianum contains for this Sunday a proper (votive) mass in honor 
of the Blessed Trinity, with the present customary preface. 
Stephen of Liege (903-920) edited an office, and the feast found 
entrance into the Netherlands, England, Germany, and France. 
The Pope hesitated, in spite of repeated petitions, with its general 
introduction, until John XXII, a.d. 1334, adopted the feast and 
prescribed it for the universal Church. The more ancient office had 
already been revised by the Franciscan John Peckham ( — 1292). 1 

The jubilation of Pentecost is passed. The ecclesiastical year 
has again entered upon its ordinary course. The place of the 
paschal and pentecostal emotions is taken by a quiet meditation. 
1 See the interesting and more extensive accounts by Kellner, Heortologie, p. 76 sqq. 



516 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



And as the quiet, clear Alpine lake reflects the blue dome of Heaven, 
so, too, is the eternal, immeasurable mystery of the Blessed Trinity 
reflected in the liturgy of this Sunday. From the field of thoughts, 
taken from the office and mass, we will select a few. 

1. The doctrine of faith concerning the Blessed Trinity. A glori- 
ous example of popular catechesis we possess in the symbolum 
Athanasianum. In developing the mystery it is well, occasionally, 
to launch into the deep. If the subsoil of the sermon is plain and 
clear, in the spirit of the catechism and of the Athanasian hymn, 
then the one or other alpine climb of faith and of thoughts might 
be of great advantage. The hearers will then learn to divine the 
height and the depth of the immeasurable mystery and be incited 
to adoration in the spirit of humble faith. Consult good dogmatic 
writers: great service may be here rendered by such works as 
Willmer's Handbook of Religion and "The Gift of Pentecost/' 
by Meschler. Above, when treating of the feast of Pentecost, we 
gave several plans for a somewhat deeper treatment of these doc- 
trinal mysteries. (See, The Home of the Holy Ghost in Heaven, 
p. 500.) The applications should simply be: faith and adoration. 
The most fruitful incitements are given in the Epistle. (See also 
above, pp. 246 and 247, and especially Meschler, "The Gift of 
Pentecost," 3. ed., p. 13 sqq.; Willmer's short Handbook of Religion, 
§§ 85—93, pp. 214-236; see below, themes. 

2. The acts of the Most Adorable Trinity, of the Father and of 
the Son and of the Holy Ghost. For practical applications the 
Epistle and the Gospel of the first Sunday after Pentecost give the 
best directions. (See above, A.) This theme is also well adapted 
for the repetitions of the renewed grand deeds of God and of the 
ecclesiastical year. 

3. The divine providence of the Most Blessed Trinity. (See 
good dogmatic writers; Bruckerleben, A Way to Interior Peace, 
the -first chapters — and the Epistle of Trinity Sunday.) 

4. Baptism and the Blessed Trinity, f.i. : 

(a) Baptism and the Blessed Trinity. 

(b) The revelation of the Blessed Trinity at the baptism of 
Jesus. 

(c) Fruits of baptism (p. 162 sqq.; see also Holy Saturday 
and Pentecost Saturday). 

(d) The baptismal order of Christ: in the name of the Father 
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. (See the Gospel of Matt., 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 517 

c. 28.) This cycle of thoughts affords many opportunities for 
practical remarks on the holy sacrament of baptism. 

Themes. On account of the difficulty of dogmatic themes we will 
here present several plans for sketches. 

Some themes might be adduced under entirely single interrogatory 
forms, f.i.: 

Theme I. What is the Blessed Trinity? How does it exist? 

I. What is the Blessed Trinity? This sacred feast leads us into the 
depths of the divinity. What does the doctrinal mystery of the Blessed 
Trinity tell us? 

1. In God there is personality. In every rational and free being we 
must assume personality. We are all independent persons, i.e.: we are 
thinking, willing, and free beings; we are masters of our own actions, we 
possess our bodies and souls independently, with full consciousness, with 
inviolable rights, and a certain unlimited dominion. We say to our- 
selves: I am; I think; I will; I am a whole man, autonomous and inde- 
pendent. How noble and exalted is human personality? How much 
more is this the case in God? In God there is personality. He is a 
personal God, not an undetermined, heedless being, possibly a soul of 
the world without spirit and power, without consciousness and force. 
Otherwise God would be less than we are. There lives a personal God, 
Who thinks all- wisely, Who wills and loves almightily, and Who is solicit- 
ous about every needful cry of every one of His creatures. This our 
sound, common human sense tells us. But faith tells us more. 

2. In God there are three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, i.e., in God there are three glorious divine possessors, containers, 
and bearers of the divine nature, three, who jointly and indivisibly 
possess full enjoyment of the divine nature, the entire ocean of the divine 
essence and of the divine blessedness. The Saviour Himself spoke of 
these three in a marvelous manner. Aye, He gave us their most sacred 
names: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. But He reveals still more. 
God Himself, eternal truth, has told us still more exalted things of the 
mysteries of heaven; He has opened the heavens, as it were, still wider 
for us. 

3. Each of the three persons is God. The Father is God. The Son 
proclaims Him as such. When taking leave He announces to us in mys- 
terious words: I go to my Father and to your Father, to my God and 
to your God (John 20: 17). The Son is God. This is loudly proclaimed 
in the beginning of the Gospel of St. John. And the whole life of Jesus 
is full of the most glorious proofs that Christ is God, the Son of God. 
How gloriously did we just celebrate this — from Easter to Pentecost. 
And this doctrine the infallible and holy Church has solemnly pro- 



518 HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



claimed against all the errors and storms of the world. The Holy 
Ghost is God. This we celebrated again, belie vingly and gratefully, 
on last Sunday, on the high feast of Pentecost. We have adored and 
glorified the Holy Ghost, the Lord and the Vivifier, at the same time 
with the Father and the Son! This is likewise loudly proclaimed in 
Holy Scripture (Acts 5:3, 4; II Cor. 12: 8-1 1; I Cor. 2: 10,12). But 
our holy faith takes us still deeper into these mysteries. 

4. Each one of these three persons is God — in the one common, 
divine nature. The Saviour Himself, on a certain occasion, revealed 
this most solemnly to the great astonishment of the faithful and the 
great consternation of the unbelieving Jews, when He said: I and the 
Father are one. (John 10: 30.) Though different in personality, we 
are nevertheless one in essence. We have the same nature and essence. 
The same is precisely announced most solemnly by Holy Scripture. 
(I John 5: 7) and by the Church guided by the Holy Ghost. (Symb. 
Athan.; symb. Later. Cone. Later. IV, c. 2.) Therefore, we not only 
speak of the Trinity but also of the Tri-unity. And one thing more 
does faith add: 

5. Each one of the three persons is independent of the other and 
really and truly different from each other — therefore it is not a mere 
image of thought, not an invention of some pious imagination. I can 
and may pray to God — the Father, the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, 
Brethren, this we may not entirely understand and perceive! (St. 
Augustin and the child which would empty the ocean into a little cavity 
made of sand.) It is a mystery! But God, Who is truth itself, is back 
of this mystery. He Himself, the Eternal, testifies: It is so! And 
He has a full right to our understanding and intellect. And the same 
God moves us cheerfully to accept this doctrine. (Further explanations 
of the nature of faith, see pp. 232 sqq. and 401 sqq.) God, the eternal 
truth and authority, which can neither deceive nor be deceived, has 
taught us. Cheerfully we say: Credo, I believe! After having adored 
and tried to serve, ever since Christmas, now with inner joy, then in 
deep sorrow, and again in most solemn jubilation, the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost, we today condense all into one silent and quiet 
confession, into one sacred prayer and adoration: There is but one God. 
This I firmly believe. In God there are three persons: The Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost. The Father is truly God; the Son is truly 
God, and the Holy Ghost is truly God. And yet these three persons 
are but one God. This I cheerfully believe. And — Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost — You are therefore one God, because You all have the same 
nature and essence. You differ in person, but You are one in essence. 
And with Holy Scripture I ascribe to Thee, oh Father, the creation, to 
Thee, oh Son, the redemption, to Thee, oh Holy Ghost, the salvation. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 519 



And yet these three works are common to each one of You : for all that 
the Father does, the Son does likewise and also the Holy Ghost. (See 
John 5: 19.) Thus I pray and I cheerfully confess. 

Brethren, this is the answer which the Saviour and His Holy Church 
give to our marveling question: What is the adorable Trinity? But 

II. How does the Holy Trinity exist? Ecce jam incipiunt mysteria. 
Now the mysteries begin. (For an homiletic explanation of the idea 
of a mystery see the splendid remarks in Willmer's short Handbook, 
p. 232, § 91. The doctrine of the Blessed Trinity is a mystery.) But 
herein also the Saviour has vouchsafed us several insights. And the 
Church and her learned divines have briefly followed Him. Listen for 
a short while. The preacher should briefly develop the trend of thoughts 
which we have developed above on the feast of Pentecost, in n. 1, p. 500 
of the paragraph on : The home of the Holy Ghost — all this should be 
done in a tone of supreme veneration and with sentiments of humble 
admiration over the greatest existence possible. 

But of what use are these great thoughts which we have considered 
today? Are they not superfluous? The Saviour once said to His 
disciples: I call you no longer servants, but my friends. For I have 
made known to you all that I have heard from the Father! (John 
15: 15). Brethren, one does not reveal family secrets to every stranger 
on the street. Still, God has revealed to us poor, sinful men some of 
the inmost secrets of His essence and of His life, things which our reason 
could never have attained. What follows from this? One thing: we 
are children of God, God's family. This is a sign that we really belong 
to one family. This is for us an immeasurable honor. And, in truth, 
to every common laborer, to every ordinary servant, to every forgotten 
being, God has revealed some of His most exalted mysteries. And 
what follows, moreover, from this? We should honor these sacred 
mysteries of the Blessed Trinity, we should love and fully appreciate 
them. No power on earth should be able to turn us away from God, 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. We should rejoice to express 
the truth in our confession of faith and pray. How often do we not say: 
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it 
was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. 
Is it not true that we have often said- these words thoughtlessly? Pro- 
nounce them today in holy mass, and especially when the priest sings 
the preface, over and over again, slowly, devoutly, with an exalted and 
humble thought of the Blessed Trinity. Then later on you will pause a 
little while during this exalted prayer. What are we poor, insignificant 
creatures in comparison to the Blessed Trinity! O altitudo divitiarum 
sapientiae et scientiae Dei: Oh, depth of the riches of the wisdom and of 
the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments and 



520 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



how unsearchable His ways? For who hath known the mind of the 
Lord? or who hath been His counselor? . . . For of Him, and by Him, 
and in Him are all things: to Him be glory for ever. (Epistle of the 
feast, Rom., c. n; see pp. 83, 84.) We have every reason to submit 
ourselves to Him ! We should be grateful, upon our knees, that we are 
privileged to believe in Him and to serve Him. And in leaving the 
church today, on the feast of the Most Adorable Trinity, take holy 
water, sign yourself once more devoutly with the sign of the holy cross 
and place your reason, your speech and your heart, your life and your 
vocation under the mighty protection of God, under the blessing of the 
Adorable Trinity and Tri-unity: In the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

(Point I. with a closing remark of this sketch, might suffice.) 

Theme II. What does the life of Christ tell us of the Most Blessed 
Trinity ? 

(a) the beginning of the child life (proof from the message of the 
angels). 

(b) the beginning of the public life (proof from the baptismal revela- 
tion) . 

(c) the conclusion of the public life (proof from the address at the 
Last Supper). 

(d) the conclusion of the whole life of Christ (proof from the command 
of baptism and the conclusion of the Gospels). 

Submission to revelation: Credo! 

Gratitude for the revelation: Gratias ago (cf. the preface de 

Trinitate) . 

§ 67. The First Weeks after the Octave of Pentecost 

The Sacerdotal Week 

The two first weeks after the octave of Pentecost are, as it were, 
a golden casket wherein two great jewels are concealed: the feast 
of Corpus Christi and the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The 
lessons of these weeks, taken from the first book of the Kings, on 
the law of Silo, its good and bad servants, on the ark of God and 
its history, are now most intimately connected in thought with 
the feast of Corpus Christi. They describe: 

(a) God's sanctuary of the Old Law, and they point to the Most 
Holy in the New Law (Law of Silo). They paint: 

(b) The popular devotion of the Old Law, and urge our people 
to visit and honor the Sanctuary of the New Law. They further- 
more describe: 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



52i 



(c) The priesthood of the Old Law, and prefigure the priesthood 
of the New Law. 

The account in detail consists: 
(a) Of vocation to the priesthood. (Samuel.) 
(/3) Of the flourishing of vocations to the priesthood in pious 
families (history of Anna and Elcana). 

(y) Of the service of the priest in the sanctuary: 
(aa) Ideal priests. (Samuel.) 
(bb) Priests forgetting God (the sons of Heli). 
(cc) Half -priests (Heli's sons). 

(d) The blessing of the service of God and the curse of robbing 
God. (Contrast between Samuel and the sons of Heli.) 

(e) The sanctum of the sanctuary. The ark and its history, 
its course of blessing and of curse, is a prototype of the many 
effects of the sacrament of the Altar and of the feast of Corpus 
Chris ti. 

We would respectfully suggest to the homilist to touch, from 
time to time, upon these ranges of thoughts in his sermons during 
the time of Corpus Christi. (Cf. Dippel, Kirchenjahr, and Brei- 
teneicher, sermons on the Old Testament.) 

§ 68. The Feast of Corpus Christi 

I. The history of the feast of Corpus Christi. The feast of 
Corpus Christi is the renewal of the Coena Domini of Holy-week 
in a most solemn and unlimited festive jubilation. That which 
was denied to the sacrament of the Altar during Holy- week, on 
account of the sorrow of Holy Thursday, is here supplied in the 
jubilation of Whitsuntide. (Cf. the breviary, II. Nocturn.) The 
occasion of the feast was furnished by a nun, Juliana of Mount 
Cormillon, near Liege, who had a vision with a divine request to 
work for the introduction of a feast still lacking to the honor due 
to the sacrament of the Altar. This she communicated to the 
Archdeacon Jacob Pantaleon of Liege, who afterwards (in 1261) 
ascended the chair of St. Peter as Pope Urban IV. After many 
difficulties Juliana obtained from the Bishop of Liege, Robert de 
Thorete, in 1246, the introduction of the feast into the diocese of 
Liege. At that time bishops still possessed the right to introduce 
feasts into their dioceses. The feast was adopted by the diocesan 
synod of 1246, and was celebrated for the first time in 1247, after 
the death of Bishop Robert. When Jacob Pantaleon ascended the 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



papal throne in 1261, as Urban IV, the then existing Bishop of 
Liege addressed a letter to him relative to the feast. Urban IV 
showed himself willing to comply with the request, and was con- 
firmed in this disposition by the well-known occurrence which 
happened to a Bohemian priest in Bolsena (in 1262). One year 
before his death Urban IV published the bull, Transiturus, where- 
by he introduced the celebration of the feast on the Thursday after 
Trinity Sunday for the universal Church. At the order of Urban 
IV, St. Thomas of Aquinas composed the glorious office which 
unfolds, in a marvelous manner, the dogma (cf. the sequence, 
Lauda Sion and several other hymns), the pragmatics (in the hymns 
of matins), the ascetics, and the mystical theology (cf. the selec- 
tion of the psalms, the antiphons, and the lessons of the II. Nocturn) 
of the sacrament of the Altar. Urban IV, however, died before 
the publication of the bull. The affair came again to a standstill. 
In the meantime the feast was gradually introduced into several 
dioceses. Clement V took up the idea of Urban IV. The council 
of Vienne introduced the feast in 131 1 for the entire Christian world. 
The procession was at first adopted in several dioceses, and under 
John XXII was made universally theophorous. The bull of Urban 
IV was incorporated into the Corpus juris canonici. (Clement, Si 
Dominum^ III, 16.) The humble Juliana, to whom we owe the 
first impulse to this glorious feast, after having been driven from 
convent to convent, and from hermitage to hermitage, died piously 
and resigned to God's holy will as a weak instrument of a mighty 
divine providence, on April 5, in 1258, in the cloister of Fosses, 
and was buried in the cemetery of the convent of Villier in the 
diocese of Namur. 1 

The permitted, recommended, and partly ordered expositions 
of the Blessed Sacrament during the masses and at all the offices 
on this feast are something unique. The pastor should endeavor 
to make the celebration of Corpus Christi and the procession of 
the same as solemn as possible. The stations at the Altar and the 
singing of the four Gospels are a usus germanicus, which has ob- 
tained from a long developed practise particular rights and, ever 
since 1820 (cf. R. D., September 13), an expressed Roman appro- 
bation. The images of saints, however, and relics are not per- 
mitted to be carried in the theophorous processions. In the several 
parishes the Blessed Sacrament should be exposed in the mon- 
1 See fuller details in Kellner's Heortologie, whom we have followed here mostly. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



strance during the parochial functions, vespers, and the evening 
services of the octave, and at the end benediction should be given. 

Trinity Sunday and the Sunday within the octave, also the 
month of June and the immediately approaching feasts, afford 
rich opportunities to the preacher to preach on the Blessed 
Sacrament. 

II. Homiletic remarks on the time of Corpus Christi. We will 
mention here a few cycles of ideas corresponding to the feast itself. 

1. The dogma of the Blessed Sacrament. Study especially the 
Lauda Sion, and compare this dogmatic hymn with the scientific 
dogma and John, c. 6; in connection with this dogmatic work, 
compare the homiletic exegesis of John, c. 6. We have already 
expressed ourselves upon such sermons on the fourth Sunday of 
Lent (p. 291 sqq.), on Holy Thursday (p. 367 sqq.), and on Low 
Sunday (cf. p. 444, n. 5, and, especially, p. 464 sqq., p. 466 sqq.). 

2. Divine providence and the Blessed Sacrament (the prag- 
matics of the Blessed Sacrament). The extent of the fruit derived 
from the central position of the Blessed Sacrament in the plan of 
salvation is shown in these days, f.i., the greatest deeds of Christ: 
Se nascens dedit socium convescens in edulium — se moriens in pretium 
— se regnans dat in praemium. Or : God with us — Our Emmanuel. 
In Paradise God walked with man — near him. Through sin man 
lost God. But there remained an immeasurable longing for God. 
Even the pagans sought a God near them and imagined Him, 
though through fearful error, existing in pictures and temples. 
God returned to man again, in the midst of His chosen people, in 
the tabernacle and in the temple. (Compare the Psalms and the 
prayers of the dedication by Solomon.) But Isaias announces a 
far different God of approach : The Emmanuel — the Saviour. He 
comes and is near man for thirty- three years. But He wishes to 
be near all generations, and in all times and all souls and very 
near. Therefore, He instituted the sacrament of the Altar; He 
is with us and dwells amongst and in us. Above the Sacrament 
of the Altar there is but one thing — heaven; there alone God is 
nearer to us — here He is veiled, there unveiled. Oh, how grand 
is the Sacrament of the Altar: Our Emmanuel, "our God with 
us": ut me a Te nunquam separari permittas! (Compare also the 
themes of Low Sunday.) 

3. The glorification of the Sacrament of the Altar. Sermons 
should occasionally be delivered on the procession of Corpus Christi, 



524 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



f.L, Christ, the King of our churches, of our homes and dwellings, 
of our ways and steps, of our farms and fields, of the earth and the 
universe, and, above all, of our hearts. (Cf. the hymns of the 
feast and the thoughts of Epiphany in relation to the Blessed 
Sacrament.) Or, describe Christ as the Good Shepherd in the 
procession of Corpus Christi. (Compare the II. Sunday after 
Easter, p. 469.) Also according to the Landa Sion, to the people 
as their Saviour, their Teacher, their Shepherd, and their Nourisher. 
In connection with these thoughts are sermons on the solemn cele- 
bration of the Blessed Sacrament, as celebrations of adoration, of 
thanksgiving, of atonement, and of propitiation. The Blessed 
Sacrament is also practically explained as the last glorious fruit 
of Easter and of Pentecost: it is the abiding of Christ with us, 
personally and entirely. The festive thought on Trinity Sunday 
and Corpus Christi might similarly be connected within two brief 
points. This Sunday presents God to us as the infinitely exalted 
distant God (Trinity Sunday), the coming Thursday as the in- 
finitely loving God near to us (Sacrament of the Altar). How dis- 
tant are we poor creatures from God's exalted Trinity, and how 
near to the exalted divinity in the Sacrament of the Altar! The 
week after the octave of Pentecost preaches to us the two funda- 
mental sentiments of a Christian: The feast of the Blessed Trinity: 
the fear of God (see the Epistle), and the feast of Corpus Christi: 
the love of God. 

A rich selection of themes is presented by the above explanation, 
and also in the series of thoughts mentioned therein on the IV. Sunday 
of Lent, on Easter Monday, and on Low Sunday. 

The Sunday before and the Sunday after Corpus Christi are espe- 
cially adapted for a sermon, and also the eve of the solemnity itself. 
(Cf. Holy Thursday, p. 364 sqq.) 

On Trinity Sunday the thought of the Blessed Trinity and of the 
Blessed Sacrament might be very appropriately connected, f .i. : 

Theme I. God above us (dogma of the Blessed Trinity, the Epistle 
of the feast). God amongst us (the Blessed Sacrament). 

Theme II. The distant and the near God. 

Theme III. Fear God! fin the contemplation of the Blessed Trinity). 
Love God I (in the contemplation of the Sacrament of the Altar) . 

Theme IV. Our procession into heaven fin the contemplation of 
the Blessed Trinity). God's procession on earth (procession of Corpus 
Christi). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 525 

III. The Sunday within the octave of Corpus Christi. The 
grand thoughts of Corpus Christi continue and invite the preacher 
to develop them. The mass of the Sunday depicts Holy Com- 
munion on the background of the ideas of the Blessed Sacrament. 
(Gospel of Luke, 14: the great banquet.) 

A. The Gospel a picture of Holy Communion. 1. The rich 
of the world (i.e., the children of the world, the self-righteous) 
remain away from the banquet for vain reasons (from Holy Com- 
munion — from mass) — first part of the parable. (See the first 
beatitude, cf., p. 108.) 

2. The poor in spirit (i.e., the children of God, the humble, 
who feel themselves to be spiritually blind, lame, leprous, and 
poor with Christ) come to the banquet (to Holy Communion or 
to the Sunday mass) : 

(a) After having purified themselves from sin through con- 
fession (praeparatio substantialis et accidentalis) for Holy Com- 
munion or through contrition (confteor) for mass, and having thus 

(b) Ornamented themselves with the wedding garment of grace 
and of love (from a kindred parable) — second part of the parable. 

With God there is an eternal banquet. He who despises the 
banquet at the Altar and of the Altar, will not taste of the eternal 
banquet: dico autem vobis, quod nemo virorum illorum, qui vocati 
sunt, gustabit coenam meam. (Cf. above, John, c. 6.) 

B. The Epistle — a supplement to the picture of Holy Communion. 
The Epistle on love, taken from I. John, 3, announces a subject 
familiar to liturgy, but alas! too little known to the preacher: 
communion among ourselves. 

1. The love of Christ for men in the Sacrament of the Altar 
casts a light into and around us. 

2. Our love for men, after the reception of the Sacrament of 
the Altar (the exegesis of the Epistle as a homiletic examination 
of conscience) should cast its light into our lives. 

The liturgy reminds us, time and again, ex professo, that after 
the reception of the grand acts of divine love for men — we should 
examine our fives and our character in regard to the most minute 
points on the love of neighbor. Why do the preachers so seldom 
point to this. (See, f.i., Pentecost Monday, the Saturday and 
Sunday after Pentecost; see thoughts of Christmas, p. 246 B, 
p. 217 (y), p. 244 A. Cf. p. 536 n. 5, pp. 537, 543, etc. Besides 
this, compare the themes for Low Sunday.) 



526 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 69. The Feast of the Sacred Heart 

I. The History of the feast of the Sacred Heart. The feast is 
celebrated on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi. Blessed 
Margaret Alacoque gave the occasion to the widely spread special 
devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its limited sense. She 
made it a task of her life to propagate throughout the Church the 
worship and feast of the Sacred Heart. The most celebrated 
apparition of our Blessed Lord, which was vouchsafed to this 
blessed woman, took place June 16, 1675. The Church at first 
hesitated to give her approbation to the devotion and to the feast 
until a more exact examination of the private revelations made to 
Margaret Alacoque had been instituted, and especially until a 
more exact examination of the dogmatic foundation of the object 
and the character of the devotion of the Sacred Heart had been 
established. According to the hierarchical organization of the 
Church, which regulates and directs in the name of Christ and of 
the Holy Ghost worship and liturgy, new devotions, though mani- 
fested as particular requirements of the age, require the examina- 
tion and the approbation of this same Church of Christ. 

The life of Blessed Margaret Alacoque itself is very instructive 
to the preacher. (Compare, f.i., Noldin: The Devotion to the 
Sacred Heart, p. 35 sqq.) Though, as a rule, it is well not to give 
private revelations any prominence. Even in the office they are 
relegated to a remarkable degree into the background. Even 
though private revelations be approved of, their communication 
is not inspired as are the Holy Scriptures, and, therefore, they often 
bear a strong personal impress which does not appeal to every 
one. It is more important to develop the entire dogma, the ascetics 
and the pragmatics of the devotion. 1 Nevertheless the preacher 
might speak from time to time of the weaker human instrument, 
which God has chosen to confound the strong and the proud, and 
to cast a glance into the inner glory of such a soul. (Compare 
Noldin, Devotion to the Sacred Heart, p. 35 sqq.) But the preacher 
should never present private revelation, even though approved of, 
as part of the depositum fidei. The devotion of the Sacred Heart 
itself, however, belongs to the depositum fidei, though not solemnly 
denned. Clement XIII first approved of the devotion and of the 
feast for single dioceses and countries. By the constitution: 

1 See Noldin, p. 27. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 527 

Auctorem fidei of Pius VI, the devotion was protected against 
attacks, in the year 1794. Pius IX was especially active in the 
propagation of the devotion and for the splendor of the feast, 
and by a decree of the congregation of rites of Aug. 23, 1856, he 
raised the feast to a dupl. majus with a proper mass and office. 
In 1875 Pope Pius IX recommended the dedication of the faithful 
and of all Christian countries to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, after 
he himself had dedicated the universal Church to the Divine Heart. 
Leo XIII raised the feast to a feast of the first class. 

II. The object of the feast of the Sacred Heart is the real 
divine- human heart of Jesus, which pulsated and still pulsates in 
the bosom of the Redeemer — united with the divinity of Christ 
and not separated from the person of Christ — however, neces- 
sarily and mainly the supersensitive Heart of Christ, i.e., the divine- 
human will of Christ, the entire interior life of the will and feeling 
of the Lord. The devotion of the Sacred Heart, therefore, does 
not radically exclude the veneration of the sensitive, real Heart 
of Jesus, but rather turns to the same, but always rises up to the 
supersensitive heart, to the divine-human will and feeling of the 
Lord, and, above all, to His love, and remains there adoring, admir- 
ing, deploring, atoning, and imitating in love. The festive cele- 
bration shows us the deepest root and source of the redeeming 
acts of Christ, which we have already celebrated — the divine- 
human love. (See p. 345 sqq.) 

III. The liturgy of the feast of the Sacred Heart. The mass 
proclaims, in the Introit and the Epistle, the love and compassion 
of the Redeemer for the children of men: Miser ebitur (Lamenta- 
tions of Jeremiah, c. 3, and the Epistle taken from Isa. 42). The 
Gospel points out the source of this love of the Redeemer, the 
Heart of the Redeemer pierced on the cross. 

The pastor will, no doubt, strive to foster the devotion of 
the Sacred Heart, and eventually introduce the confraternity of 
the Sacred Heart, and likewise awaken a sense and appreciation 
of communions of atonement, of the Apostleship of prayer, and of 
the adoration of the Adorable Sacrament. Above all, however, 
will he reasonably acquaint the people with the object, the source, 
and the aim of the devotion of the Sacred Heart, with its celebra- 
tion of adoration, of thanksgiving, of atonement, and of propitia- 
tion, and lead the people into the school of the inwardness and 
character to which the Heart of the Redeemer invites us. 



528 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Sermons on the Sacred Heart. Sermons on the Sacred Heart belong 
to the most difficult, but, once properly understood, to the most fruit- 
ful themes. 

A Dogmatic sermons on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These are 
necessary from time to time. But the preacher must guard against 
subtle, almost hairsplitting anatomical investigations, which destroy all 
force and unction. Besides solid dogmatic works, we recommend 
especially: H. Noldin, S. J.: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
A thorough study and complete meditation of this booklet will furnish 
the preacher a clearness, an inspiration, and practical security. For the 
further preparation J. Jungmann's, S.J., five propositions for the ex- 
planation and scientific foundation of the devotion of the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus will do excellent service. (Innsbruck, Wagner, 1869.) We will 
here add a few suggestions for the preacher on the subject of this devo- 
tion. We shall first propose, instead of the expression which is strange 
and so little understood by the people: "the object of the devotion" — ■ 
the paraphrase. 

What do we honor in the devotion of the Sacred Heart? We desire 
here to remind the homilist of the following questions: 

1. What do we mean by the word: heart? 

We distinguish between the corporeal and the spiritual, the sensitive 
and the supersensitive heart. The word: heart, in common language, 
is taken in a double sense. In the proper, literal sense, heart means 
our bodily, real heart which pulsates within our bosom and is so im- 
portant and necessary for our bodily life. In a transposed sense, how- 
ever, the word heart means, almost in all languages, also our spiritual, 
psychical heart, i.e., our will, our entire striving force, our feeling with 
all its agitations, emotions, and activities. But that especially which 
is most beautiful and exalted in our will and our feeling is designated 
by the word: heart-love. The basis of this linguistic usage is the in- 
controvertible fact of popular experience and science: no organ of our 
noble human nature is so mightily and diversely influenced by the 
psychical forces and agitations, by the emotions and activities of our 
feelings, as is precisely the heart: even our bodily heart is mostly affected 
by the waves and motions of our feelings, of fear and love, of sorrow and 
of joy. (See above, pp. 40-44.) 

2. What do we mean by the sacred words: Heart of Jesus? 

By the most sacred words : Heart of Jesus, we mean the same as by 
the word heart: two things. First, we mean the real, the sensitive, the 
corporeal, the visible Heart of Jesus, which pulsated and pulsates still 
in His bosom. Then we ascend to His spiritual, supersensitive Heart: 
we think of the divine-human will of Jesus, of the entire, glorious in- 
terior life of Jesus, and, above all, of the greatest and most glorious of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the inner life of the Lord: of His divine-human love: this is, in the full- 
est sense, His heart: the Heart of Jesus. The basis is the same which 
we have already touched upon above. 

3. What do we honor in the devotion of the Sacred Heart? 

In the devotion of the Sacred Heart we honor the Heart of the Lord, 
in a double sense of the word. We honor the corporeal Heart of the Lord 
which beats in His bosom, but is united with His divinity. And we 
honor the spiritual, the supersensitive, the invisible Heart of Jesus — His 
will, His entire and most sacred inner life, His love. The real devotion 
of the Sacred Heart honors, therefore, not merely the love of Christ, 
but the love of Christ in its symbol — the real Heart. But even as 
little, aye, far less do we honor the corporeal Heart of the Lord alone, 
though united with the divinity, but the real, coporeal Heart of the God- 
Man as the symbol, the way and the gate of love. But this is not meant 
in the sense that the praying and meditating Christian must, in an 
anxious, academic, or mechanical manner, never lose sight of either the 
corporeal or the spiritual Heart of Christ. The fundamental character 
of the devotion extends to these two most sacred objects, which are 
never torn asunder nor separated from each other, but are rather united 
among themselves and with the person of the Redeemer in a vivid and 
a marvelous manner. The exercises of the devotion itself move within 
a holy freedom: Spiritus ubi vult spirat. Ubi Spiritus Dei, ibi libertas. 
The exalted aim of the devotion is to know Jesus better and more thor- 
oughly, to penetrate devoutly and with veneration into the inner life 
of Jesus, and, above all, to comprehend and honor His love and to be 
honored by it. 

If we desire to enter more fully into the holy cause and spiritual 
exercises of the Sacred Heart devotion we might say: 

(a) We honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus which beats in His bosom. 
Of course, we do not honor it independently of His living humanity 
and of His exalted divinity. Just because the humanity of Christ is 
so marvelously united to the person of the divinity, therefore is the 
Sacred Heart of Jesus also most worthy of honor. We should love and 
honor it, aye, we may and must adore it. The preacher should occa- 
sionally emphasize the significance and the sublimity of the real Heart 
of Christ, but in a most dignified, noble language consecrated by the 
conceptions of Holy Scripture and of liturgy. The homilist should 
not dwell too long and too academically on the corporeal Heart, because 
it is in keeping with the spirit of the devotion to ascend from the symbol 
and the portal of the corporeal Heart to the spiritual Heart — to love. 
The Heart of Jesus, that dwells in the bosom of the Redeemer, may 
certainly be honored and adored alone: it is united with the divinity. 
This would be a worthy, a reasonable, and a real exercise of honoring 



53Q HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



God. But if the divine-human love and the inner life of Christ were 
not made the aim of the entire devotion, it would not be devotion of 
the Sacred Heart. But the more sublime the conception of the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus is briefly and devoutly perceived, the more easily is this 
portal of love opened to us. The Heart of Jesus is the treasure of the 
humanity of Jesus, which is entirely deified and glorified and filled with 
divine gifts and miraculous powers: of this His humanity the Gospel 
says: "for virtue went out of Him, and He healed all." (Luke 6: 19.) 
Jesus Himself testifies thereto: "Somebody hath touched me; for I 
know that virtue is gone out from me." (Luke 8: 46.) The Heart of 
Jesus is the sacrificial vessel of His Sacred Blood, which was shed for 
us and by which we have been ransomed (see the thoughts of the feast 
of the Pretiosissimi Sanguinis, of July). From His morning sacrifice, 
at His entrance into this world (see above p. 57 sqq.), to His evening 
sacrifice on Calvary, when the last pierce of the lance opened it, it was 
the sacrificial vessel and altar. The Heart of Jesus is an ocean, upon 
which all the agitations and emotions of His soul-lif e cast their waves : 
The Heart of Jesus was a Paradise of sacred rapture and joy, since the 
Lord performed His great miracles and delivered His exalted sermons in 
honor of the Father and for the salvation of men. But it was also a 
great battlefield, an elective field of terrible conflicts, since all the woe 
of sin fell upon the feelings of the Lord. When fear and dread of sin 
and of suffering pressed, on the night of Mt. Olive, the blood into this 
poor Heart during the gigantic battle, and pressed it together, until, 
finally, the heroine, love, conquered all noble and justifiable fear, and 
the Heart, in its deepest beating and its marvelous power and might, 
forced its blood into all the veins and even out of the pores: then it 
was that "He suffered a bloody sweat for us!" Oh, how His Heart was 
herein engaged! And thus, in fact, this Heart, at times beating joy- 
fully in the bosom, then trembling in His inmost being, now expanded, 
then this tightly pressed Heart, united with the divinity of the Lord, 
becomes the one great, sublime symbol of His entire divine human love. 
It becomes the gate of the glorious, mysterious, and new life of love to 
which the Saviour invites us: Venite ad me — Venite et videte — Dis- 
cite a me! 

(b) We honor the spiritual, supersensitive Heart of Jesus, i.e., His 
love, His will, His whole inner life, His feeling borne, glorified, and sub- 
merged by the divinity, the divine human-love, and all the agitations and 
emotions and deeds thereof. 

For development of this love we may now emphasize the great sublime 
characteristics of the Redeemer's Heart and permit, now this, then the 
other passage of Holy Scripture, of liturgy, of dogma, or of experience 
to shed its rays of the brightest illumination. We honor and love : 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(a) the Heart of Sanctity, the truly most Sacred Heart. From this 
Heart came forth the words: Who of you can convict Me of sin? And 
what a school of sanctity is the life of Jesus and, above all, the inner 
life of Christ, into which Holy Scripture has vouchsafed us a glance? 
(Compare, f.i., Hettinger, Apologie: Vortrage iiber die Person Jesu 
Christi.) We honor: 

(P) the Heart of love, truly the Heart of which it may be said in 
the fullest sense: it loves. Cum dilexisset suos, usque in finem dilexit 
eos. What an immense wealth is here offered by the Gospels and the Pauline 
letters (see above, Holy Week, pp. 364-374). We honor: 

(7) the heart full of suffering, the heart which suffered, was despised, 
forgotten, misunderstood, and yet sublime as no other, whose love was 
never extinguished. Inexhaustible riches for these thoughts are fur- 
nished by the history of the Passion contained in the Gospels and the 
liturgy of Holy Week (see, f.i., above, pp. 345-354, § 36). We honor: 

(8) the Heart full of glory. Who could possibly complete the 
description of the divine-human glory and sublimity with all the riches 
of its divinity and the beauty of its human character (see above, pp. 138, 
139)? This is most sublimely manifest in the narrative of the resurrec- 
tion (compare our explanations of Holy Saturday and Easter and the 
Sundays after Easter, f.i., pp. 418-425, 43 I ~437, 455~468). 

All these descriptions should unfold the entire interior hidden glory 
of the Redeemer into one magnificent and characteristic portrait, in 
order to introduce, in a practical manner, the impressed imitators into 
the school of this noble Heart. 

For such representations we would recall to the minds of the preachers 
especially Hettinger's Apologie: Vortrage iiber Christus, but, above 
all, the writings of Grimm and Meschler on the Life of Jesus, also sev- 
eral sermons on Christ by Bishop Sailer, and some of the homilies of 
P. Patiss, S.J. 

B. Biblical sermons on the Sacred Heart. Among the most fruitful 
sermons on the Sacred Heart are the biblical sermons on the Sacred 
Heart, whether they be images of the Sacred Heart in connection with 
the Gospels, or proper exegetic or thematic homilies which permit the 
inner life of the Lord to shine forth from the evangelical chapters. 
The most beautiful book of the Sacred Heart is and ever will be the 
Gospel. For nothing opens to us deeper views into the inner life of 
the Lord than the Gospel. 

1. Meditations on the several Gospels. A meditation upon some 
particular chapter of the Gospel should be made occasionally from the 
special view-point of the inner life of Jesus, of all the sacred and glorious 
thoughts and sentiments which moved and guided Jesus in these and 
other words and deeds. Then a sermon on the Sacred Heart may be 



532 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



prepared from such meditations on the respective scenes: f.L, The rich 
draught of fishes: an image of the Sacred Heart. 

The rich draught of fishes, an image of the Sacred Heart, Luke 5: 1 sqq. 
The Gospel of the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. 

(a) Christ thinks of the terrestrial needs of men: (a) He thinks of 
the fruitful work of the Apostles. (0) He blesses the work of the 
Apostles in a marvelous manner. The Sacred Heart of Jesus and our 
own work. Work without Jesus, in the name of Jesus, at the command 
of Jesus. All the duties of the various states of life and of all classes 
are draughts of fishes at the command of the Sacred Heart. 

(b) Jesus thinks of the superterrestrial needs of men. 

( a ) He thought of the souls of the Apostles and of our souls. The 
miracle produced not merely a rich capture of fishes, but likewise a 
rich gain of graces. When the bark which had been filled by the 
capture almost to the point of sinking glided quietly over the calm and 
lonesome crest of the lake, then the greatness and the majesty of Jesus 
rose to an infinite degree in the eyes of the Apostle Peter. Being in the 
boat with the almighty Son of God, he was so near Him. But how far 
away, how infinitely far away from Him was a poor, weak creature, as a 
poor, miserable sinner! His manly power now collapses in view of the 
draught of fishes. He sinks upon his knees and cries out: Lord, depart 
from me, for I am a sinful man! He perceives in a manner the mar- 
velous, the mysterious greatness of the Lord, and now he lies adoringly 
and contritely at His feet. What a sublime devotion of the Sacred 
Heart on the crest of the lake of Genesareth! Applications of our sen- 
timents toward the Heart of Jesus during consecration, after communion, 
at benediction of the Blessed Sacrament might be made: how we, too, 
ought to be inwardly entirely like Peter! 

(P) Christ thinks of His entire Church and of His Kingdom to the end 
of the world. Within the Heart of the Lord there existed a still deeper 
and greater thought. He wished to reveal, through this miracle, a 
mystery of His Heart and of His love : the solicitude for the Church and 
for all souls to the very end of the world. Peter was far from compre- 
hending, at that time, this thought fully. Later on, after the resurrec- 
tion and the feast of Pentecost, He comprehended its full import. We 
also understand the depth of the language of this miracle, which origi- 
nated in the Heart of the Redeemer. The bark of Peter is the Church. 
The lake is the world. Peter, the first Pope, and his successors are the 
fishers of men. The Lord of the draught of fishes is the Saviour Him- 
self. He occasioned it, orders it, and blesses it. Peter directs the work. 
His fishing net is the sermon, the care of souls. His co-laborers are the 
Apostles, their successors and co-laborers. This is a rich, an immensely 
rich draught of fishes. Think of ail the missions, of the sermons, and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the entire cure of souls since the days of Peter down to our own time, 
and from our days to the end of the world; of the papacy, to the last of 
parishes. The draught of the fishes on the lake of Genesareth is like a 
lovely promise from the depth of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which He 
always fulfils more and more gloriously and mightily to the very end of 
days. And there seems to come from the Heart of the Lord and descend 
into our hearts a serious and a friendly warning : love the bark of Peter, 
love the Church! Enter into the net of this fisher of men! A few appli- 
cations concerning the hearing of sermons or fidelity to the Church fit 
naturally into this. Thus we fulfil one of the desires of the Sacred 
Heart of the Saviour. 

And when we consider these things, when we see how the Saviour is 
solicitous and concerned about our terrestrial work, about our spiritual 
work and about the continuation of His gigantic work among men 
through the Church, then we cannot but humbly and contritely love 
and love again, to the very end, such a Heart of the Redeemer. 

In a second sermon there might be treated very appropriately: 
The second draught of fishes with its accompanying manifestations, as 
a sermon on the Sacred Heart of Jesus. (John 21: 1-24.) 

(a) Jesus is solicitous about the least: 

(a) about the repast of His Apostles (the coal-fire, the fish-fry, and 
the bread, John 21 : 9) ; 

(£) about the additions to this lovely repast (the rich draught of 
the 153 fishes, John 21: 4-14); 

(b) Jesus is solicitous about things most important: 

(a) about the most important in the soul of Simon and of all souls: 
about love: Simon diligis Me? (John 21: 15 sqq.) 

(/?) about the most important in the world: about the papacy, which 
He conferred upon Peter, and with it the lambs and the sheep, fishes 
great and small, individually counted and valued in the one net of 
love, which, after the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Ghost, 
tears no more (see John 21: n, in contrast to Luke 5: 6, and especially 
John 21: 15-18). 

The account of the second rich draught of fishes is given at the end 
of the last Gospel. The whole life of Jesus, the entire revelation of 
His heart lay open before His own, whom He calls "little children." 
And what is the last question which mounts to His lips, from the depth 
of the Redeemer's Heart: Simon, diligis Me? Simon, lovest thou Me? 
And when in the month of the Sacred Heart we should look into the 
depth of the Sacred Heart of the Redeemer, after having recognized in 
the ecclesiastical year the entire life of the Lord and His continuation 
in the Church, then the Lord will put to each of us the same question: 
diligis Me? (Practical indications.) 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



2. Cycles of characteristic portraits of the Redeemer, according to the 
Gospels. Select several general, but very prolific lines of character, and 
treat them in a homiletic manner with several concrete historical scenes, 
and with them descend into the deep, in order to discover the funda- 
mental thoughts of the Redeemer's Heart, which lie hidden in certain 
scenes, f.i.: The Heart of Jesus and the family (the marriage at Cana), 
the Heart of Jesus and the people (the necessities of the people, truth, grace, 
courage, consolation: the evening at Capharnaum after the cure of 
the mother-in-law of St. Peter: Luke 4, 40 sqq., see pp. 506, 509; the Heart 
of Jesus and men (Nicodemus) ; the Heart of Jesus and women (the Samari- 
tan woman and Mary and Martha) ; the Heart of Jesus and those suffering 
(Mt. Olive — point out the inner sentiment of the suffering Redeemer 
as an example); the Heart of Jesus and the joyful (the revelations of the 
risen Saviour to Mary Magdalen, or, f.i., the Heart of Jesus on Easter- 
day: all the revelations of the whole day, compare also § 47, p. 418 sqq., 
and § 50, p. 432). With these themes effective applications to practical 
life should be combined. 

3. Sacred Heart homilies on entire biblical paragraphs, f.i., homilies 
on longer biblical combinations: The Last Supper, the conversation 
with Nicodemus, with the Samaritan woman (f.i., the coming of Jesus), 
the words of Jesus: a word of Jesus on grace (John 4, 1-16), a word of 
Jesus on sin (v. 7-20), a word on the true religion (v. 24-39), a word 
of Jesus on those who profess the true religion (v. 39-42). Each of 
these divisions of thoughts will supply a sermon which might lead into 
the very depth of the interior of the Heart of the Redeemer, in an 
exegetic or thematic connection with the conversation of the Samar- 
itan woman, and which might also penetrate deeply into the interior 
of the heart of man. 

Whenever one or more sermons on the Sacred Heart are delivered 
every month for years, then it is advisable to treat a whole portion of the 
life of Jesus, f.i., a year of His teaching office, in precisely the same manner, 
or to select a larger portion of the life of Jesus wherein the glorious 
combinations are especially considered. In such a case the scenes ought 
to be narrated, in the first point of the sermon, in a striking manner and 
in the full biblical light, and then explained, or, according to the course 
of the events, the narrative and the explanation should be combined in 
constantly rising points. This, however, should be done by entering 
with full reverence and devotion into the interior sanctity of the life of 
Jesus, and by developing the thoughts, the sentiments, the demands, 
and the desires of the Heart of the Lord. Such sermons on the Sacred 
Heart of Jesus are veritable and artless apologetics of devotion and make 
the people familiar with the Gospels and their spirit, all of which is 
of an inestimable importance. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



Another method consists in collecting the most important evangelical 
events in their combination and under certain view-points and arranging 
them according to an ideal cycle, f.i.: What does Jesus think of faith? 
How did Jesus lead to faith? or: Jesus 1 school of faith (which might also be 
treated in several sermons on some striking evangelical scenes and 
passages, and this in a lovely separate exegesis. Christ's school of 
suffering: see pp. 86, 87; p. 345 sqq.). 

For all such work we recommend studies and meditations according 
to Grimm's Life of Jesus, according to Meschler's Life of Jesus, accord- 
ing to Knecht's Bibelkommentar, or directly according to the Gos- 
pels themselves. (See above, the chapter on the Holy Scripture, 
pp. 93-162, especially p. 149 sqq.; compare likewise above: Sermons 
on the Passion of Christ, p. 324 sqq.; cycles of homilies on Holy 
Scripture, p. 305 sqq.; the days of Holy Week, p. 345 sqq.; Easter Sun- 
day, p. 431 sqq.; Easter Monday, p. 414 sqq.; Low Sunday, p. 454 sqq.; 
vigil of the Ascension, p. 490 sqq. Compare Hattler, Skizzen fur Herz 
Jesu-Predigten.) 

§ 70. Homiletic Remarks on the Rest of the Sundays and 
the Weeks after Pentecost 

I. Homiletic methods in general. In regard to the Sundays 
after Pentecost we recommend, above all: 

1. Homilies on the Gospels, respectively the Epistles. 

2. Cycles in closer ideal connection with the liturgy. 

3. Cycles in the spirit of the fundamental thoughts of the 
liturgy. 

II. Homilies on the several Sundays after Pentecost. It is 
an exceedingly grateful task to deliver occasionally, on Sundays 
after Pentecost, homilies on the Sunday Gospels, and, for a change, 
also on the Epistles. The Life of Jesus by Grimm and by Meschler, 
Knecht's Bibelkommentar, the commentaries on the Gospels by 
Scheegg, Schanz, Polzl, Knabenbauer, Loch, and Reischel's notes, 
Sailer's, Foerster's, and Eberhard's homilies, the use of the hom- 
ilies of St. John Chrysostom and the commentaries of Cornelius a 
Lapide, who is always of great service to a preacher — all these 
supply the richest stimulation to the preacher. 

(a) The homilies should be really exegetic or thematic. (See 
above, the paragraph on Holy Scripture, p. 151 sqq., and below, 
the treatise on the homily.) 

(b) The aim should be to introduce the people more deeply 
into the life of Jesus, into His mysteries, doctrines, and graces. 



53^ 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(c) The plan, respectively the central application, should be so 
formed that the same view-points be not too often repeated. The 
other repetitions of the homiletic exegesis are even valuable, 
since they show the doctrines of Holy Religion always in a new 
light. 

III. A cycle of homilies on the several Sundays after Pente- 
cost. Though the connection of the Sundays is not a very close 
one, as, Li., during Advent, Epiphany, Lent, or Eastertide, still 
ideal connections cum fundamento in re might easily and naturally 
be established between the several Gospels. The fundamental 
thought we have already developed above (p. 510), and more 
fully below (p. 537 sqq.). 

IV. Cycles of sermons which are connected with the liturgy only in 
a wider sense. A want of a closer connection of these Sundays after 
Pentecost make this time especially adapted for dogmatic and cate- 
chetic cycles of sermons. Such cycles of sermons, however, are 
connected with the fundamental thought of this time of the eccle- 
siastical year to a considerable advantage, f.i. : 

A. Cycles of sermons on the Church in connection with the feast of 
Pentecost, or in connection with the feast of SS. Peter and Paul. Besides 
the catechism and the explanation of the catechism consult, for 
original and practical sketching and solid material, good dogmatic 
works, such as Scheeben, Heinrich, Hurter, Pohle, and especially the 
Apologetics by Hettinger, Schanz (III vol.), Gutberlet (III vol.), the 
Handbooks on religion by Willmer, and we recommend most especially 
the thorough work of Ch. Willmer, S.J. : De Christi Ecclesia, libri sex. 
Most excellent service may also be rendered by: J. Specht, die Lehre 
von der Kirche nach dem hi. Augustin, also striking sermons by Ket- 
teler, Foerster, Eberhard, Ehrler, Fuessl, Die hi. kath. Kirche, das 
grosse Werk Gottes. Too many points should not be pressed into one 
sermon, so that the proofs might be luminously unfolded. (See below, 
P- 554-) 

B. Cycles of sermons on the Blessed Sacrament, in connection with the 
feast of Corpus Christi. We recommend the respective and striking 
parts of dogmatic and moral theologies, such as Schanz, Doctrine of the 
Sacraments; Gihr, The Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments; Blaet- 
tler, Manna in der Wiiste. See above: Fourth Sunday of Lent, p. 287; 
Holy Thursday, p. 362 sqq. ; Low Sunday, p. 452 ; feast of Corpus Christi, 
p. 521 sqq., also p. 322, p. 332. 

C. Cycles of sermons on Christian virtues in connection with the gifts 
and the fruits of Pentecost. (See St. Thomas, H. II., the moral theologies 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



537 



by Miiller, Gopfert, Lehmkuhl, the V. vol. of the Apologie by Weiss; 
see above, the Octave of Pentecost.) 

Excursus I. The combination of the first twelve Sundays after Pente- 
cost. The figures denote the Sundays after Pentecost. 1 

i. Love in the Kingdom of Christ, as a starting-point and an end: 
fruits of Pentecost, Pentecostal joy and life (see above, pp. 505 and 515 
sqq.). 2. The banquet of the righteous in the Kingdom of Christ. (Dom. 
infra Oct. Corporis Christi, p. 524.) 3. The return of the sinners in the 
Kingdom of Christ. (Gospel of the lost sheep and of the goat: Jesus 
amongst sinners; compare the Epistle on the danger of sin, I Pet. 5.) 
4. The draught of fishes in the Kingdom of Christ. The first Sunday spoke 
of the gathering of the Kingdom of Christ, this one speaks rather of the 
propagation of the Kingdom of Christ amidst labor (Gospel) and 
suffering (Epistle). (Compare our sermon on the Sacred Heart of this 
Sunday, p. 531.) 5. True morality (inwardness) in the Kingdom of Christ 
(sacrifice and love). Love of God and of neighbor (Gospel of Matt., 
c. 5; compare also the first Sunday and p. 222 sqq.). It is really remark- 
able how the Church returns again and again to the principal command- 
ments of love. Do not many preachers overlook these suggestions of the 
Church? 6. Providence in the Kingdom of Christ (Gospel of the second 
multiplication of the bread, see also p. 287), or the food in the Kingdom 
of Christ (mystical) , or the real laborers in the Kingdom of Christ (the 
co-operating Apostles and their successors as servants of the word and 
of the grace of God, or the school of the Apostles, education in the King- 
dom of Christ). 2 7. False prophets of the false Kingdom of Christ (the 
Gospel of the false prophets). 8. Learning from the children of the world 
for the Kingdom of Christ. The children of the Kingdom of Christ 
may learn something from the children of the Kingdom of the world: to 
apply all prudence and all means in order to enter through the narrow 
gate into the Kingdom of Christ (Gospel of the unjust steward). 
The goods of this earth should be converted into means and ways for 
heaven. As the children of the world attempt to attain terrestrial 
prosperity by all possible means, so, too, should the children of God 
select all possible (legitimate) means and ways to attain eternal salva- 
tion. The Lord praises prudence : the "virtus morum directrix in singulis 
casibus per media apta adfinem." As the serpent strives to creep through 
everywhere and thus to save its head, so, too, should we strive to pass 
through all ways and all our duties without sin. As the dove, simple and 
plain and without cunning, pure and white, flies through the blue sky, 
so should we be plain and simple and seek among all things that which 

1 More explicit homiletic-exegetic treatment, sketching, and general plans will be 
furnished in the supplement. 

2 Compare herewith: A. Meyenberg, Aus der Apostelschule, p. 54 sqq. Luzern. 



538 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



is necessary: estote prudentes sicut serpentes, et simplices sicut columbae 
(Matt. 10: 1 6) ut sic transeamus per bona temporalia, ut non amittamus 
aeterna (prayer of the Church). So should we administer and use the 
" bona temporalia," the " mammon iniquitatis," money and possessions, that 
we might make the poor, their families, their guardian angels, their 
departed souls, our friends, who, by prayer, by sacrificial atonements, 
by intercessions, might promote our entrance into the eternal mansions 
of heaven. 9. The curse of Christ on the children of the world, who refuse 
to enter the Kingdom of Christ (Gospel: Jesus weeps over Jerusalem). 

10. Humility, the foundation of the Kingdom of Christ from within (Gospel 
of the pharisee and the publican). Humble prayer and contrition 
reconcile the sinner to God. Pride begets self-righteousness. It is 
remarkable how often and how indefatigably the Church returns again 
and again to the real, upright, the honest and unfeigned inwardness; an 
admonition to preachers which is not always followed. (See n. 1 and 5.) 

11. Grace, the foundation of the Kingdom of Christ. Whenever grace is 
added to humility, to poverty in spirit, there the real foundation is laid. 
This has already been indicated by the parable of the publican. The 
cure of the man who was deaf and dumb, in the city of Decapolis on the 
nth Sunday, with that memorable Epheta, was already, in most ancient 
days of the Church, regarded and is still so to this day, the touching 
symbol of grace, of the first and all succeeding graces which open our 
being, our reason, our will, and our feeling for the supernatural. (See 
p. 87 sqq.; p. 403 sqq.; p. 502, 4). 1 12. The pinnacle of the Kingdom of 
Christ. The twelfth Sunday brings the cycle of thoughts to a certain 
termination. The first Sunday solemnly announced love — and after all 
the glorious developments this Sunday returns again to love. Again it 
is remarkable with what an emphasis the love of neighbor is again intro- 
duced as the virtue inseparable from the love of God, as the mark of 
the love of God and the election by God. The Gospel brings: (a) a 
word on the command of the love of God and love of neighbor; (b) a 
touching example of love of neighbor: the Good Samaritan: who helps 
a through love, f3 through compassion, y personally, 8 without regard 
of person, € practically, £ powerfully, completely, and unselfishly. And 
after having meditated for one year upon this glorious Gospel of love in 
its literal sense, then in the next year it will invite us to descend into 
the depths of its mystic, spiritual sense. Christ points to Himself as 
the Good Samaritan, who descended from the Jerusalem of heaven to the 
Jericho of this earth. He saw sinful humanity fall amidst robbers 

1 This is an opportunity to speak on the sense and significance of sacramental 
signs and ceremonies. (Compare p. 282, p. 290.) Also: The word of God opens 
our souls to Jesus and things divine, Epistle, see p. 400. The grace of God leads 
Jesus and things divine into us (Gospel, see p. 88 and 406). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(Satan, the world, and sin), deprived of grace, lying half-dead on the 
wayside, and He took care of it through His doctrine, His sacraments, 
His redemption, and bound its wounds and brought it into the inn of 
the Church established by Him, after having paid all by His most 
precious blood. 

When looking up confidently to this Good Samaritan: Fiduciam 
talem habemus per Christum ad Deum: non quod sufficientes simus cogitare 
aliquid a nobis quasi ex nobis; sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est (Epistle, 
II Cor. c. 3), when contemplating the immeasurable love of the Good 
Samaritan, Jesus Christ, and when we hear the command of the love 
of God and of men with the glorious command: "go and do likewise," 
then the entire glory of the Kingdom of Christ is also opened to us, of 
which the Saviour Himself testifies in the beginning of the Gospel: 
Beati oculi, qui vident quod vos Metis. Dico enim vobis quod multi enim 
prophetae et reges voluerunt videre quae vos videtis, et non viderunt: et 
audire, quae auditis, et non audierunt. But all this glory avails us naught 
unless we love God and our neighbor practically. The twelfth Sunday 
after Pentecost is, as it were, a renewed and terminating Pentecostal 
feast of love. Its thoughts began with the Saturday after Pentecost 
(see pp. 505 sqq., 509 sqq., 511 sqq.), and are now gathered into the infi- 
nite, the ruminating, and the warming sun of the love of Jesus Christ, 
the Good Samaritan. This Sunday is one of the most beautiful days of 
the ecclesiastical year and offers one of the most beautiful occasions for a 
sermon. 

The following Sundays might also be connected in a similar way: 
Excursus II. From the thirteenth to the twenty-fourth Sunday after 
Pentecost. In a certain sense the time from the thirteenth to the twenty- 
fourth Sunday forms a second concentrated cycle which, however, is 
more freely constituted than the first. 

13 th Sunday. The old and the new Kingdom of God. Poor leprous 
humanity and the healer of leprosy, (a) The law of the Old Testament 
desired to awaken the consciousness of sin, to make conviction of sin 
vivid; men are sinful, leprous before God: quid ergo lex? Propter 
transgressiones posita est. (The Epistle of this Sunday, Gal., c. 3). The 
law of the Old Testament, though imperfect really added to the natural, 
revealed, and supernatural law, and had at the same time the task, with 
the natural law promulgated by conscience, and yet more than this, the 
task of awakening the consciousness of sin and to bring it out. It was 
intended to bring men to the full conviction of the many transgressions 
they committed, of how much personal sin had been increased on the 
basis of original sin; of how necessary, therefore, a Redeemer is. This 
one Redeemer is Christ (Epistle, Gal., c. 3). (b) Christ in the Gospel of 
today heals ten lepers; millions of mental and spiritual lepers He healed 



540 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



through baptism and penance, through perfect contrition, through the 
power of atonement in consecration. The preacher should emphasize 
the one or the other point and show how either baptism or penance or 
contrition or consecration heal leprosy (directly or indirectly). In the 
Old Testament the law, with all its precepts and sacrifices, intended to 
proclaim that: Sin is within you! You are lepers! The New Testa- 
ment desires to proclaim to us, above all, that: Grace, life is given you! 
There is no more room for sin! (Rom., c. 6; see p. 162). The precepts 
of the New Testament, the sacrifices and the sacraments will guide and 
strengthen us so that we may obtain this second life of grace, preserve 
it at all cost, and bring it to perfection, but if lost, to restore it again at 
all cost. 

The law of the New Testament is first and above all the law of 
grace. Grace first enters the soul. Grace renews the essence and the 
life of the soul. The law of Christ is a precept, a command only from a 
secondary consideration. Whenever it announces precepts and com- 
mands, whenever it utters a deep cry in the soul, such as: " Thou shall " 
whenever it appears as a divine imperative in a^ thousand cases, then it 
merely desires to show the ways of life, and to give the ways and the 
means of grace, which is already in the soul, or must be brought back 
again before everything else into the soul. Grace itself is the law. It 
justifies us interiorly — without grace, the very laws of the Gospel 
themselves would be but dead letters. And without the living spirit 
the letter killeth. (Compare these great conceptions in St. Paul, es- 
pecially in the letter to the Galatians, and herewith the articles of St. 
Thomas in quaestiones 106-109 of I, II, especially the homiletically 
precious articles 1, 2, 3, qu. 106.) 

It is of vast importance to heal leprosy of sin in the new kingdom, 
in order that the law of grace may prevail. The thirteenth Sunday 
reminds the preacher and the pastor of souls of his most important task : 
to preserve, by all means, sanctifying grace in his parish. Upon the 
field of sanctifying grace it is well to sow. The preacher ought therefore 
always reawaken an interest for this first — for "life," for sanctifying 
grace. But he should emphasize fear of mortal sin not too exclusively. 
The preacher doubtlessly acts wrongly who represents the leprosy of 
mortal sin as a common thing, as an everyday occurrence in public 
life, as if Christians were in general a massa condemnata. The preacher 
should rather show how comparatively easy it is for us, assisted by the 
gigantic forces which God places at our disposal, to preserve ourselves 
against mortal sin, and to regain life and grace. We recommend most 
urgently, upon the background of the just developed thoughts, such 
themes as: How is the parish secured against mortal sin? How do we 
preserve the life of the soul? (a) Every night by perfect contrition. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(b) By perfect contrition at the beginning (confiteor) of mass, (c) By 
the sacrificial atonement at consecration, (d) By the constantly re- 
newed resolution: No more mortal sin (non regnet ergo peccatum in 
cor pore vestro mortali! Rom., c. 6); but above all, (e) by frequent con- 
fession, whenever possible, according to time, position, circumstances, 
and avocations. Such points, treated in brief and rapid and substan- 
tially explained climaxes, are of genuine invaluable benefit, and a direct 
practical addition to the word of Jesus: jugum meum suave est et onus 
meum leve, et invenietis requiem pro animabus vestris. Courage and 
confidence to live in the state of grace, and to secure and to regain grace 
when lost, should abound more than is usually the case. It is possibly 
too often asserted that: You should, you should, and you must and you 
must! and too little care is taken that we all "have fife and have it 
abundantly." (Compare herewith p. 72.) Such are the unique, funda- 
mental thoughts of this Sunday. But they will not be found if the 
Epistle — the only key thereof — be neglected. This Sunday is pre- 
cisely a splendid proof of how fruitful an Epistle, in itself very difficult 
and apparently written for the settlement of a quarrel long ago in 
Galitia, might be, provided its substantial thoughts are seized upon 
and it be practically interpreted. Upon this occasion we would 
again emphasize the great practical thoughts of the II. II. of St. 
Thomas, which often puts a practical casuistic moral theology in the 
shade. All things should terminate in the central application: gratitude 
for the grace of the New Testament in sentiment and in deed (see 
Gospel and p. 106, 4). 

14th Sunday. The happy life in the new Kingdom of God. 1. "No 
one can serve two masters^ The Gospel announces this principle most 
forcibly (Exegesis). The Epistle (Gal. 5) calls those masters who rise 
up besides and against God, and who wish to make us servants and 
slaves: these are the "opera carnis" which the Apostle enumerates and 
from which the preacher should select one or the other to present them 
as idolatry and as an attempt to serve two masters : qui talia agunt, 
regnum Dei non consequentur . 

2. But if we serve the one master — the Lord — then we will 
be happy: (a) From within: the soul becomes a veritable paradise 
of the Holy Spirit, in spite of all self crucifixion, in the joy of the 
conscience in a certain security of grace, in progress, though it 
be only gradual (end of the Epistle), (b) From without: life is placed 
under a special divine providence: happiness, blessings, events of 
fortune, all He in the hands of Him who cares for the lilies and for the 
grass of the field (Gospel, Matt., c. 6). This Sunday announces, con- 
sidered from another view, the kingdom of divine providence in behalf 
of all men, and especially in behalf of Christians. (The splendid 



542 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and deeply sensitive argumenta a minore ad majus of the Gospel may 
also be utilized.) 

15th Sunday. The great miracle worker in the Kingdom of God: 
Christ Jesus. (The Gospel of the young man of Nain.) Again the 
Church returns with a predilection to the person of Jesus Christ, (a) 
Describe, f.i., the miracle worker in the literal sense, in order to create 
a new enthusiasm in favor of the Son of God, Christ Jesus, and to em- 
phasize faith in Him. This may be done by a clear and deep feeling 
homily on the Gospel (see Grimm and Meschler) or by a description of 
the series of miracles of Christ, from which His divinity constantly looms 
more gloriously, f.i., of Nairn (shortly thereafter) , the calming of the storm 
at sea (immediately following), Gergesa and the exorcism of the devils 
(shortly after this), the woman suffering of a flowing of blood, and the 
daughter of Jairus (immediately after the landing from Gergesa). Com- 
pare pp. 731, 732, or show (b) the spiritual miracle worker and raiser of 
the dead (see the Gospel and the homily of the breviary of this Sunday; 
compare the same Gospel and the homily of the breviary of the feast of 
St. Monica, May 4; again compare the same Gospel with the entire 
liturgy of the fourth week of Lent: Feria V. post Dom. IV. Quadragesimae: 
see above, pp. 289-292). An application to grace, justification, baptism, 
penance, or to the entire Christian life would be very natural, also to a 
resurrection from the dead. Again, these Gospels of the raising of the 
dead might induce the preacher also to treat dogmatic themes on the 
resurrection of the body — the significance of the Christian death, etc. 
Another concept is presented by the Gospel in connection with the 
Epistle (Gal., c. 5 and 6). The merciful love of Christ appears in the 
Gospel. In the Epistle the Apostle depicts (partly) the merciful love 
of the Christians. If the twelfth Sunday insisted mainly on the corporal 
works of mercy, the Sunday of today refers mainly to the spiritual rela- 
tion of our neighbor. What an extent of self-love, of egoism, of envy, 
hardheartedness, and want of love, of censoriousness, heartless aban- 
donment and neglect of our fallen fellow-men we meet often even in 
Christian circles, without the least thought of what might have happened 
to us under similar training and in different circumstances. Read the 
Epistle and meditate on it under this point of view, and compare the 
spirit of the splendid words of the Apostle with the spirit which reigns 
here and there in parishes, in families, and which oftener creates egoists 
than Christians. The mutual life of Christians ought rather be a 
resurrection from the dead, a consolation to the sorrowful and the afflicted, 
a compassion for our fellow-men, a sowing of the good seed in many 
furrows. Then the sermon becomes a practical examination of con- 
science on mutual awakening and edification. The preacher should 
cultivate the spiritus lenitatis, of which the Apostle speaks in the Epistle, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



that spirit of meekness toward our neighbor, in which the one carries the 
burden of the other, the noble spirit of a stirring activity for our neigh- 
bor, of which the same Apostle says: ergo dum tempus habemus, operemur 
bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. (See P. Pesch: 
Der Christ im Weltleben.) 

16th Sunday. The service of God in the Kingdom of Christ: Sunday 
in the Kingdom of Christ. The Gospel of the dropsical person and the 
sanctification of the Sabbath gives us an artless occasion to speak of 
the sanctification of Sunday, f .i. : I. Theme: Sunday brings rest in God 
and for God. (a) Rest for God, i.e., rest from work in general, especially 
from laborious, servile, and corporal work, to gain room, time, and leisure 
for God, for religious service, (a) The obligation of this Sunday rest 
(compare some moral theology). (P) The true and the false excuses in 
regard to this obligation, in the spirit of the Gospel of this Sunday 
(compare a moral theology), (b) Rest in God. The Sunday does not 
intend a rest for laziness or for dissipation; the Sunday most assuredly 
permits, aye, the very precept of Sunday intends noble recreation and 
the strengthening of tired and worn-out energy; but, above all, the 
Sunday intends to furnish us: rest in God, rest for the service of God: 

(a) The essence of religious worship: its exaltation, its dignity, and its 
blessing. (f$) Duties in regard to divine worship, (y) The desires and 
advices of the Church in regard to divine worship. (See in the alpha- 
betical index: mass, divine worship, parochial service, Sunday). II. 
Theme: Jesus heals on the Sabbath: (a) In the Gospel: a short exegesis. 

(b) Amongst us by the word of God (every resolution formed in a sermon 
heals), by the atonements of God (atonement in consecration, practically 
and dramatically presented as a cure. Compare below in the catecheti- 
cal studies, pp. 773, 774), by the sacraments of God. III. Theme: False 
and true excuses on Sundays (in the spirit of the Gospel of today). 
IV. Theme: How should we heal others on Sunday? (a) by a partici- 
pation in prayer and in the sacrifice of Jesus (of the mass) for them, (b) 
By participation in prayer and the sacrifice of the Church for all, and 
especially for the parish. (Explain the duty of the application by the 
pastor), (c) By works of charity: visits to the sick, to the poor, Catholic 
family life on Sundays, Catholic societies. All of this effects a healing: 
"licet sabbato curare." The spirit of these works, in the Gospel. V. 
Theme (homily): Occasional instructions of the Lord: (a) On the 
spirit of exterior worship (I. part of the Gospel) ; (b) on the spirit of 
interior worship: humility (II. part of the Gospel). VI. Theme: The great 
healing on the Sabbath: sacred consecration. Explain the healing 
sacrifice of the atonement and of intercession and present all this in the 
grand thought of the Epistle of this Sunday: there we learn with all 
the saints the height, the depth, the length, and the breadth of the 



HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



cross and of the love of Christ, which surpasses all human understanding. 
(Ephes., c. 3, p. 283, and note 1, and p. 505.) 1 

17th. Sunday. The essence of the Kingdom of Christ. The Church 
always returns to the main precept. The preacher should never overlook 
this. Love is the being and the essence of Christian life and of Christian 
perfection. A word on the principal commandment of the Kingdom of 
Christ. (1. part of the Gospel). A word on the principal power of the 
Kingdom of Christ, who stands back of the principal commandment 
(Epistle), or in relation to the Epistle: a principal person, a principal 
commandment, a principal power (grace), or: unity of the Kingdom of 
Christ: One Lord (Christ, see the Gospel: Dixit Dominus, etc., and the 
Epistle unus Dominus) . One body (the Church) . One baptism (those 
who belong spiritually and corporally, fully and entirely, and those who 
only belong in a wider sense — spiritually — to the Church). One Spirit 
(who conducts all). 

The autumnal Ember-days. (Very appropriate for a preparatory 
sermon on Sunday: see pp. 284-288). 

1 8th Sunday. The power of forgiving sin in the Kingdom of Christ. 
This Sunday is a well-planned supplement to the thirteenth Sunday 
after Pentecost. There the life of grace is emphasized, here its main 
means is presented: " forgiveness of sin, through the Son of Man," and 
" through the sons of men as His successors." (Fully treated above, 
pp. 308-310.) 

19th Sunday. The great banquet in the Kingdom of Christ. The 
literal sense : The truth and the grace of Christ are the banquet proffered 
to all nations, to the Jews and to the pagans. The Jews, as a people, 
rejected the invitation. The punishment hereof is described in the 
Gospel : missis exercitibus suis, perdidit homicidas illos (the murderers of 
Christ) et civitatem illorum succendit (the destruction of Jerusalem; the 
arch of triumph of Titus in the Roman Forum is still today a witness of 
the fulfilment of these words). The nations which lined the highways 
and roads of the world's history are all invited. They come, but not 
all that belong to them, in the nuptial garment. Each must wear the 
garment of grace. Otherwise he will be rejected. Many, aye all, are 
invited, but compared to the immeasurable love of the King, only a few 
are finally selected. (Historical sermons, see p. 108, n. 8, p. 137 sqq., 
n. 21; pp. 141 sqq., 257 sqq.) Or: Holy Communion, the great banquet 
of the nations — now a grand picture ! Compare the Lauda Sion: 

1 A thought on the Gospel: Man is worth more than a sheep, than a domestic 
animal — in the eyes of Jesus : (a) considered naturally : (a) according to the body 
(anatomically), (yS) according to the spirit. Some proofs of the substantiality and 
the immortality of the soul, (b) considered supernaturally, grace and happiness. 
See A. M., Eine Weile des Nachdenkens iiber die Seele. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



545 



sumit unus, sumunt mille, etc. (See also the Sunday within the octave 
of Corpus Christi, and the IV. Sunday of Lent, p. 289 sqq.) 1 

20th Sunday. Faith in the Kingdom of Christ. In particular: the 
ruler of Capharnaum. (See Grimm, Leben Jesu; Meschler, The Life of 
Jesus.) Before the end of the ecclesiastical year the Church once more 
reviews the foundations. The Gospel describes the half-faith and its 
reproach; the complete faith and its help. A splendid homiletic antith- 
esis might be obtained by consulting the Gospel of the fourth Sunday 
after Epiphany, of the ruler of Capharnaum: half-faith; full-faith, or 
educating faith; an educated faith. Compare our thoughts on faith 
on Epiphany, on Holy Saturday, on Easter, and in the plans of the 
cycles after Easter, p. 448 sqq. 

2 1 st Sunday. An account of the stewardship in the Kingdom of Christ 
on earth. The Church after having reviewed the foundations, points to 
its completion : through the Gospel of accountability and the unmerciful 
servant, (a) in the seriousness of the account demanded of men: "vult 
rationem ponere cum servis suis," already here and again on the day of 
death, (b) in the mercy of God in behalf of men at this account. God 
remits the entire and dreadful guilt of grievous sins (compare the calcu- 
lations of money) . (c) in strictly prescribed mercy at the account de- 
manded, on the part of our fellow-men. Here the point of this splendid 
parable should be strongly emphasized, and the main idea should not 
be overlooked on this Sunday. What an immeasurable debt does the 
Lord not remit to us in holy mass, in contrition, and in confession! 
How contemptible, revolting, scandalous, and condemnable therefore 
is the heartless refusal and the delivery of a fallen fellow-man, a 
Pharisaical and final harsh judgment of the proletariat, of whole 
classes of people. Even to the punished and condemned personal 
mercy must be extended. Unnecessary severity, heartless disputa- 
tion, crafty litigiousness, purse-proud and sordid boast of money-bags 
and gold-chests — even in legitimate legal demands and transactions, 
etc., are to be severely condemned. On the background j of the 
vividly perceived and sanguinary love on Calvary, and manifested 
through the confessional, by the Son of God, who longs to remit 
our entire and immeasurable guilt, every kind of unfeeling severity is 
strongly condemned. On this background, precisely, the preacher can 
awaken an interest of love for all who are or were in any manner debtors 
to humanity. Here might be introduced the Christian and the social 
significance of the sanitaria for drink-cure, of the reformatory and 
corrective institutions, of societies for dismissed prisoners and criminals, 
of asylums for the fallen, etc., etc. We again emphasize, in connection 
with the liturgy, how great the duty of the preacher is to show that love 

1 P. 32 and 33, also confession and communion. 



546 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and especially the love of neighbor belongs to the essence of religion, that 
there can be no exception or dispensation to this command, that a 
religiosity which would kneel before the altars, but shuts the hearts to 
fellow-men, is a false religiosity. It should also be remembered that 
the innumerable venial sins against charity, especially the many smaller 
ones, but still full of conscious malice, everywhere prepare impediments 
to the straight way to heaven and weaken within us the fruits of holy mass 
and Holy Communion and hinder the gaining of indulgences, corrupt our 
character, and accumulate an inexpressibly great guilt for purgatory: 
Et iratus dominus ejus, tradidit eum tortoribus quoad usque redderet uni- 
versum debitum. Sic et Pater meus coelestis faciei vobis, si non remiseritis 
unusquisque fratri suo de cordibus vestris. This Sunday is the royal 
school of pardon, of forgiveness, of remission, of the union of love and 
justice, of mild judgment in all spheres, after we ourselves have obtained 
God's most merciful judgment. 

2 2d Sunday. The Kingdom of Christ and the State. The kingdom 
which is not of this earth and the kingdoms which are in and of this 
world. Reddite ergo quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae sunt Dei, Deo 
(Gospel of the coin and the tax-question). There are great and far- 
reaching ideas contained in this expression of Jesus. 

(a) The State is also a creation of God. What is a nation? What 
is a State? An extended and well-established and perfected family. 
Man lives not for himself. He cannot. We all have some aim. There- 
fore, we belong to each other. The Almighty speaks to all: ego merces 
tua magna nimis. 1 I am thy reward exceedingly great. Christ there- 
fore desires to form all men into one family. This family is the Church 
of God. But even in the natural and temporal affairs man is not for 
himself alone. We all enter into this world most helpless, more helpless 
than any other creatures. Notice how long a child requires careful 
corporal attention. Even our mind is not awakened without help, 
without education through others. And what about the grown-up man? 
Even he cannot secure his spiritual and corporal success alone. The 
one requires the other. The one class is supplemented by the other, as 
"the body is not one member, but many. If the foot were to say: 
because I am not the hand, I am not the body; is it therefore not of 
the body? and if the ear should say: because I am not the eye, I am not 
of the body: is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were 
the eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where 
would be the smelling? But now God hath set the members, every 
one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him. . . . And the eye 
cannot say to the hand: I need not thy help; nor again the hand to the 
feet: I have no need of you." 2 Just so do we men require each other, 

1 Genes. 15: 1; Apoc. 22: 12. 2 1 Cor. 12: 14-22. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



one avocation is supplemented by the other, one class by another. And 
human love which dwells in the soul, and speech wherewith we hold 
mutual intercourse, the impulse to communicate our thoughts, the joy 
to unite with others for peaceful and powerful actions and works, all 
these tell us: we belong to each other. 

But, whatever is found in all places and at all times and in all men — 
that belongs to human nature. Or, let us express it more simply and 
better: that, the merciful creator has placed into our souls. Therefore, 
He has us born into the family and He surrounds the cradle of the child 
with a mother's love and a father's protection. 

But the family alone cannot attain its aim in things that are common. 
The family needs the spiritual and corporal help of others. In union 
there is strength. Through union the family attains in a more secure 
and easy and richer way, aye, even in abundance, all that the members 
need for the common good. Thus communities arise from families and 
from classes related to each other, which mutually aid each other. The 
communities are nothing more than a union of several families under a 
general direction, under a common head. 

When families are extended, when communities become enlarged 
and new ones are formed, then there is need of a greater and more splen- 
did combination. Men wish to remain united in a certain sphere, to 
aid each other as friends, to help each other in their social wants and 
inclinations, and maintain right and order for the benefit of all. Thus 
a constantly wider social bond is created. Within such a bond all 
relations must be legally arranged. Legal protection against all manner 
of attacks and for all beneficial enterprises are necessary. Thus arises 
the proper community life — the State — the bond of country, and what 
is this but one great, finally established, numerous, and glorious family? 1 

Family — oh beautiful word! The people of a small or large country 
should be one family. How deep'y we feel the necessity of this in days 
and in places when fellow-citizens have sacrificed their blood and life 
for the preservation of country, and have saved it as a precious heritage 
for later times and centuries: Indeed, we feel so much like a family of 
brothers in our country — one for all! all for one. 

Thus States arise to furnish rich, secure, and sufficient means for 
the happiness and the blessing f of each individual, of the families and the 
communities in order to foster reasonable rights, to protect and to supplement 
by wise laws the natural rights, to declare justice and punish the trans- 
gressor of the law, and all this for the common weal of the great family 
of our terrestrial country. This all lies in the nature of man; it is there- 
fore the will of God, God's own ordinance! for the Almighty is the 

1 See the Encyclica of Leo XIII, of Nov. 1885 on the Christian State and of May 
15, 1891, on the Labor Question. 



548 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



creator of human nature. Thus the fatherland is the gift of God, and 
God's protection is over its origin and existence. The words of the 
Apostle also apply to our country: " Omne datum optimum et omne donum 
perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum." " Every best gift, 
and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of 
lights." 1 (See p. 223.) The Spirit of God Himself has implanted into 
our hearts the aim of community life, the life of brotherhood. For the 
Holy Ghost is love, the Holy Ghost is the origin of every concordant 
effort. The Holy Ghost, therefore, is closely allied to every family. 
He blesses every noble union, but He mostly pours out upon families 
and communities and stations and classes, united for the common good 
of a country, the fulness of His blessing. " Spiritus ubi vult spirat" " the 
Spirit breatheth where He will." 2 

Aye, the Spirit of God breathes over places and fields, where the 
people have lived for centuries, where they have preserved their strength, 
gained their victories, and practised their Christian, civic virtues. The 
Spirit of God breatheth on people and fills them with the riches of His 
love, 

But no society can exist without authority, without a certain degree 
of government or direction. In the family there exists parental authority. 
Parental power is an image of the government and the power of God 
Himself: " a quo omnis paternitas in coelis et in terra" of whom all 
paternity in heaven and earth is named. 3 

Thus there appears, likewise, in the community and the State a 
superiority, a direction, a government, a head. Without superiority, 
which fosters and protects that right and power, the right of all and the 
common good of all, the country would suffer. But who gives one man 
authority over another? a right to govern his equals? Who gives 
the State the right to enact laws? or to decide even in matters of life 
and of death? There is but one answer: Divine Providence. God has 
created humanity to live in one family, in one community, in one State. 
He has created humanity so that it cannot live without authority. Where, 
therefore, legitimate authority appears, there it is an instrument, an 
image of divine providence. " Non est potestas nisi a Deo:" There is no 
power, but from God. 4 Therefore, the Spirit of God says in the Proverbs: 
"Per me reges regnant et legum conditores justa decernunt: per me principes 
imperant et potentes decernunt justitiam :" By me kings reign, and law- 
givers decree just things. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree 
justice. 5 Let us not overlook these words which the Almighty pro- 
nounces so pointedly: "By me." Wherever rightful authority appears, 
wherever power of government is employed, be it in the hands of a mon- 

1 Jamesi:i7- 2 John 3: 8. 3 Ephes. 3: 15. 

4 Rom. 13: 1 sqq. 5 Proverbs 8: 15 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



arch, or of a ruler, or by an entire republican people, there God is repre- 
sented, there deeds are performed in the power and in the name of God: 
Per me legum conditores -justa decernunt: by me lawgivers enact justice. 
Therefore, the State has authority and power which no society, no 
combination can ascribe to its members, and it has duties which no 
private person can discharge toward another. Therefore the people 
have a sacred right to defend the power which is placed into their hands 
or the legitimate authority by which they are governed, even by the 
power of arms against all foreign intruders and all arrogant upstarts. 
For the same reason Christian sentiment condemns revolution and the 
overthrow of the existing authority. It is a revolt against the Almighty 
Himself, Whose providence reigns over the authority of countries. But, 
precisely therefore, no authority has a right to govern arbitrarily nor 
whimsically, and may never consider a majority without regard to God's 
holy laws. God determines, finally, what is right and wrong, what is 
good and evil. God's will is our eternal law. This will of God is an- 
nounced through every conscience. Aye, more, oh Christian, oh 
Catholic people! One is your lawgiver: 1 Jesus Christ, yesterday, today, 
and the same forever. 2 He has proclaimed most clearly and plainly the 
will of God for us. His Church does it to this day. This law of Christ, 
the rights of the Catholic Church no authority can abrogate, no majority 
displace. Against the law of Christ there is no initiative and no revision. 
No earthly power may rise up against this sacred law. No resolution 
of any majority can annul it. On the contrary, the more the law of 
Christ penetrates the authority and the people, the more wisely and 
happily will the country be governed. Therefore, the State should 
protect the Kingdom of God, His Church on earth, so that she might 
pass as a benign angel of benediction over the people and found and 
accomplish the eternal welfare of all men. The whole country should 
rest upon the foundation of Christ Jesus: "For other foundations no 
man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 3 

Thus the State is not merely an image of power, of force, and of 
authority, armed with the law and the sword, it is not a mere necessary 
evil, but it is something exalted and mighty; but, at the same time, 
something beautiful, something mild and paternal. Something divine 
moves within it. For the State comes from God. It is the representa- 
tive of God in temporal affairs. "It is God's minister for good and for 
evil." 4 

There still remains one thought. All power is from God. But he 
who exercises the power and government in the several States, depends 
upon the constitution of the several States. Our holy Catholic Church 

1 James 4: 12. 2 Heb. 13:8. 3 1 Cor. 3:11. 

4 Rom. 13: 4. See also Meschler, The Gift of Pentecost, p. 351. 



550 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



alone has the task of gathering all men into one kingdom, under one holy 
constitution. The earthly communities have been formed in the course 
of time, with the co-operation of men by peaceful-conquests and by bloody 
wars and crises. But there reigns over all the permitting and directing 
providence. God stretches His powerful arm from one end to the other 
and ordains all things most lovingly. 1 There is scarcely any truth so 
splendidly and so deep-feelingly expressed in Holy Scripture as this: 
"He who Himself giveth all life and breath and all things, He hath made 
of one man the whole human race, that it may dwell upon the whole face 
of the earth, and he hath determined appointed times and limits for their 
habitation, and that they should seek God whom they might haply feel 
and find since He is not far from every one of us. 2 For the punishment 
of pride, and in order to break the power of sin, God divided the one race 
of people into small fractions, as it were, at Babel, and selected from them 
one people for Himself. From this one people the Redeemer was to 
come forth, in whom all nations were to be blessed. "When the Most 
High divided the nations, He placed the limits of the tribes according 
to the number of the sons of Israel." 3 It is well known how wonderfully 
the Eternal directed and educated this people. But the pagan nations 
also, who went astray like lost sheep, each following his own path, He 
did not forget. He rewarded the good which they did. At times He 
was their just judge. The pagan nations were even instruments in the 
hands of God to punish faithless Israel. But when kings and kingdoms 
did not conform to His plans, when they attempted to destroy His 
chosen people, small and insignificant as it was, then He cast them like 
worthless tools aside. (See p. 108 sqq.) 

Assyria had made a powerful conquest. It, too, was an instrument 
in the hands of God for the punishment of nations, and especially of 
Israel. And now Assur became overbearing in his success. "I have 
found," so it boasts, " the strength of the people as a nest: and as eggs 
are gathered that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there 
was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least 
noise." Then the Almighty reminds the haughty empire that it was but 
the rod of His anger and the staff of His hand: "Shall the ax boast of 
itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against 
him by whom it is drawn? " 4 Therefore Assyria itself was now punished 
and stricken, but Israel, humiliated and reformed, attained its liberty 
again, " and it shall lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel in truth." 5 
Behold the protection and the providence of God over the rise and the 
fall, the prosperity and the adversity of States. 

Or, look at Christian times! 

1 See Wisdom 8: i. 2 Acts of the Apostles 17: 25-28. 3 Isaias 10: 14. 
4 Isaias 10: 15. 5 Isaias 10: 20. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 551 



There Christ stands and says to the Jews: "This generation shall 
not pass away till all this (He means His prophecies of the Last Judgment) 
shall be fulfilled." And what occurs? Home, country, and the Holy 
City are taken from the Jews: but they still exist as a generation, as a 
people without a home, scattered over the whole world. And why? 
Because it is in the disposition of the plans of God — because God's 
providence willed it so, because the plans of God are not yet fulfilled in 
this people. Behold the sway of God in the rise and the fall of 
nations ! 

And still one more example out of many others! 

Who was it that in the first centuries, at the beginning of the Chris- 
tian age, disposed matters so that far-off nations of the North and of the 
East, driven by necessity, and still more guided by an irresistible long- 
ing of the soul, went forth and inundated the whole of Europe? 

And they invaded countries, carrying destruction before them, and 
they were met by the messengers of Christ with their great commission : 
" Preach the Gospel to every creature." And the wild barbarians 
gathered around the cross; they became a Christian people, and formed 
well-regulated States — a new glorious civilization arose. Is this mere 
chance? No — it is God's protection over the formation of States. 
(Upon the backgound, possibly in connection with Heb. n, several 
arguments on the disposition and direction of God in behalf of the destiny 
of one's own country might be introduced.) The State is a creation of 
God. 

(b) We have very serious and sacred obligations also toward the 
State. 

(aa) Patriotism. 

(fib) Virtues and obligations based on love of country. (Compare, 
above all, the encyclical of Leo XIII: de constitutione civitatum and de 
praecipuis civium Christianorum officiis. See also the excellent brochure 
of Dr. Egger, Bishop of St. Gall, on patriotism.) Emphasize especially 
the justice which considers and regards our fellow-citizens, in as far 
as they are separated from us, and are independent and endowed with 
sacred and inviolable and individual rights, which we must respect, 
honor, and appreciate: Thou art not alone in the land! Justice, in rela- 
tion to high and low, to the private individual and to the State, to the 
citizen and the official, is the marrow, the very frame of the organism 
of the land: reddite, quae sunt Caesaris, Caesari. On this background 
describe love, which regards all fellow-citizens and the whole land and 
treats it as united to us by natural and supernatural God-given bonds: 
Be no egoist in the land, but a Christian. In this fight awaken a sense 
for the common good, for the good of the community, the good of the 
State, for enterprises of general utility, for mutual aids, etc. Love is 



552 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the very heart of a land and of a people. In connection with this, the 
Christian judgment of true and false liberty of conscience, of the necessary, 
permissible, and false and just liberty of faith and of worship, and of 
tolerance might be introduced. Rich material for this is provided in 
the encyclical of Leo XIII on: Liberty. (Compare Cathrein, S.J., 
Moral philosophic, 2 ed., p. 92, and II. pp. 509 sqq., 555 sqq.) 

(c) Church and State, religion and civilization, heavenly and terres- 
trial obligations are not contradictory. They are welded in the eternal 
law of God, in the one will of God. These thoughts are splendidly 
treated in the last encyclical of Leo XIII as Archbishop of Perugia. 
(Compare above p. 104 and note 1 ; compare our thoughts, p. 119, n. 14.) 
The same exalted view of God and of the world speaks from every en- 
cyclical of Leo XIII. The most popular thought is treated in the en- 
cyclical on the Rosary of 1893, part III. We shall here translate the 
most prolific passages. 

" Amain evil for which an effective remedy must be found has received 
its practical and widest expansion just among our own contemporaries. 
It cannot be denied that in ancient times men also clung, and many very 
passionately, to temporal things. But they did not despise the eternal 
things completely and entirely. Even the intellectual pagans taught 
that this terrestrial life is a mere shelter for us, not a home, but a hut 
to rest on the way, not a perpetual abode. But our present worldings 
chase after the fleeting goods of the world with the expressed purpose 
not merely to obliterate the idea of a better country in the blessed 
future, but — be it said to their greatest shame — to destroy it positively 
and to expunge it completely. In vain does St. Paul appeal to their 
souls in these words : ' We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one 
that is to come!' 1 But where is the cause of this phenomenon to be 
found? We first strike upon a widely spread prejudice. It is thought 
that a consideration of an eternal home destroys love for our terrestrial 
country and is therefore dangerous to the State. But there can be no 
more despicable and groundless assertion than this. For it lies by no 
means in the essence and the nature of eternal goods to absorb the minds 
of men so exclusively that they would become drawn away completely 
and entirely from a reasonable care of this terrestrial life. True, Christ 
Himself proclaimed the command: 'Seek, above all, the kingdom of 
God,' but He established no command which says: ' Abandon all else.' 
The use of temporal goods and of decent pleasures connected therewith 
may even serve to increase and to reward virtue. But the prosperity 
and the culture of the terrestrial State, whereby the community life of 
mortals is created and beautified, is precisely an image of the splendor 
and the glory of the heavenly kingdom. Therefore, in all these things 

^eb. 13, 14. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



there is nothing unjust for reasonable men, or even in slightest contra- 
diction to the divine intention, for God is the author of nature and of 
grace. He does not wish the one to impede the other: He does not 
desire war between the two. The terrestrial and the heavenly should 
establish a bond of friendship; nature and grace should be our guides. 
Thus we shall enter upon a lighter way into heaven, for which we mortals 
were born. 

" But sensual worldings, controlled solely and alone by self-love, 
cling in their common, low sensuality, in all their thoughts and aims only 
to transitory and earthly things. Thus they are incapable of raising 
themselves to anything higher. Instead of passing from the visible 
goods and enjoyment of this earth to the desire of heavenly things, they 
completely lose sight of eternity and sink deeper and deeper into a con- 
dition unworthy of man. Divin^ justice could scarcely permit a severer 
punishment to befall such unhappy beings than to have them forget 
thoughts of the eternal completely and to chase after the things that are 
sensual, during their whole life. 

" But the friends of the rosary will surely escape this danger, they 
who frequently and devoutly meditate on the glorious mysteries. For 
these mysteries present to the Christian mind the clearest light for a 
view of heavenly things. The dim earthly eye discovers them not, it 
is true. But faith gives us an unshakable conviction that God has 
prepared them for those who love Him. This is, therefore, the prayer 
of the mysteries directed to us: Death is not an extinction which robs 
and destroys all things — it is only a passage to another world. Here we 
are enlightened: the way to heaven is open to all. And when we see 
Christ, as He returns therein, then we will remember His glorious prom- 
ise: 'I go to prepare a home for you.' Here we receive the consoling 
doctrine : a time shall come, when God shall wipe away every tear from 
your eyes, and neither sorrow nor woe, nor pain shall be any more, but 
we shall always be with the Lord, like unto God, because we shall see 
Him as He is, and we shall be satiated at the stream of His joy, as co- 
citizens of the saints, in the eternally happy company of our Queen and 
our Mother. This meditation necessarily creates some flames within 
our souls. It will bring home to us that grand saying of a holy spiritual 
man: ; 'How disgusted I am with the earth, when I contemplate heaven,' 
and it carries within itself the sweet consolation that the momentary 
and the light weight of our sorrows effects an eternal weight of glory 
within us. This is, in fact, the only proper way to unite time with 
eternity, the terrestrial State with the heavenly City. This is the one 
great school of strong and of lofty souls. And if these are numerous, 
then the dignity and the renown of the State is impregnable. Then 
the true, the good, and the beautiful will nourish as an image of God 



554 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Himself, who is the author and the eternal source of all truth, of all 
goodness, and of all beauty." 

23d Sunday. The Kingdom of Christ beyond. The Gospel of the 
raising of the daughter of Jairus is well adapted — especially in con- 
nection with the parallel passages of the Gospel — for a homily on: 
Jesus the Saviour in misery (the disease of the little daughter, of the 
woman suffering of issue of blood), in need (account of the death of 
the daughter whilst on the way) , and in death (the raising of the daughter), 
with the central application: there is an eternal Saviour, an eternal 
help: an immortality in the glory of the soul and of the body. (This 
Sunday often occurs near the feasts of All Saints and All Souls.) The 
fundamental thought of the Sunday might also suggest the theme: 
Immortality (natural and supernatural proofs of the immortality of the 
soul. See A. Meyenberg, Eine Weile des Nachdenkens iiber die Seele, 
Luzern, 1904), glory (the glorified immortality of the soul and of the 
risen body). From this you may conclude: nostra auteni comer satio 
in coelis est, etc., from the Epistle of the day (Philipp. c. 3 and 4). The 
Gospel also invites a sort of a view back into the solemn life of Jesus, 
since it forms the conclusion of a grand series of miracles of Jesus : Jesus, 
the Lord of the sea (the storm at sea) ; the Lord of hearts (the storm at 
sea: the calming of the storm in the hearts of the Apostles); the Lord 
of hell (the exorcism of the devils in Gergesa on the following day) ; the 
Lord of sickness and of need (the woman suffering of an issue of blood — 
on the same day — after the crossing of the sea) ; the Lord and King 
of His power (the woman suffering of the issue of blood: "a power went 
forth from me "); the Lord of life and of death (the raising of the daugh- 
ter). 1 What help is not Jesus for us! (See p. 137, n. 21.) 

24th Sunday, and the following. The inserted Sundays after Epiph- 
any, when necessary with an altered Introit, see above, pp. 236-246, 
also p. 820. 

The last Sunday. See below, at the end of the ecclesiastical year, 
pp. 556, 569. 

§ 71. The Thought of the Kingdom. For the Sundays 
After Pentecost. Developed According to a 
d ogmatic— catechetic cycle on the church 

A plan of a cycle. 1. Christ the architect of the Church. Proofs 
from the Gospels: the Church, the life-work of Christ. (Compare Grimm, 
Leben Jesu, Schanz, Apol. III. vol. "The Kingdom of God.") 

2. The Holy Ghost, the finisher and the vivifier of the Church, (a) As 

1 See A. Meyenberg, Aus der Apostelgeschichte (1899), p. 36 sqq. Compare also 
Lohmann, Leben Jesu, pp. 93-113. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



depicted by Christ, (b) As sent by Christ, (c) As He operates in the 
Church, (a, b, and c, are also adapted for separate sermons.) See also 
Specht: Die Lehre von der Kirche nach dem hi. Augustin: der hi. 
Geist das Lebensprinzip der Kirche, p. 53 sqq. 

3. The Church — in the Acts of the Apostles. 

4. The Church— in the entire Holy Scripture, [(a) A review of 1, 2, 3, 
f.i., the word: " Church" in Holy Scripture, (b) The images of the Church 
in Holy Scripture, (c) The idea of the Church in Holy Scripture.] Com- 
pare Schanz, Apol. vol. IV. § 3, p. 53 sqq., I, II, IV. [No. 4 might like- 
wise be divided into several sermons: the bark of Christ, the kingdom 
of Christ, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ.] (See Willmer, de 
ecclesia Ch. constituta per modum corporis vivi et animati, p. 85 sqq.) 

5. The Church of most ancient days, (a) Her foundation: the pri- 
macy, (b) Her edifice. (See Hettinger, Apol. III. § 13, p. 411, possibly 
down to Irenaeus.) 

6. The Church according to St. Augustin (selections from Specht: 
Die Lehre von der Kirche nach dem hi. Augustin). 

7. The great characteristics of the Church: the one and the only Church. 
(See Schanz, Apol. III. § 6, p. 91; Willmer, Handbook, § 51, p. 115; Will- 
mer: de ecclesia Christi, c. 3, A. I, pp. 503-540.) 

8. The holy Church. (Schanz, I c, § 10, p. 298; Willmer, de ecclesia 
Christi, lib. V. c. 3, A. IV. p. 597.) 

9. The Catholic Church (Schanz, I c, § 7, p. 180; Willmer, de ecclesia 
Christi, lib. V. c. 3, A. II. p. 540). 

10. Why do we call our Church the Roman Catholic Church? (a) 
Were the Christians of the first century Roman Catholics? Why are 
we Roman Catholics? 

11. The Apostolic Church. (Compare Schanz, Apol. Ill, § 9, p. 
247 sqq.) Segur, short answers to the most important objections 
against holy religion; Willmer, Handbook of religion, where the correct 
and the false conception of the truth is splendidly treated (§ 208, p. 452). 
The thesis reads: The membership of this Church a necessary means of 
salvation: also §§ 206 and 207, pp. 448 and 449. 

12. The only sanctifying Church. (See Schanz, Apolog. Ill, § 9, 
p. 247 sqq. Segur, 1. c; Willmer's Comp. of the Catholic Religion, 
wherein the correct conception of this truth is splendidly explained 
(§ 208, p. 452). The thesis is: Membership in the Church a necessary 
means of salvation; also §§ 206 and 207, pp. 448 and 449). 

13. The indestructible Church. 

14. The foundation of the Church, the papacy. What does the Gospel 
teach? (Compare, Schmid, Peter in Rome; Schanz, I c. p. 436.) The 
primacy of St. Peter: (a) the preparation; (b) the promise; (c) the 
meaning and the extent; (d) the transmission of the primacy, or: How 



556 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETTC STUDIES 



did Christ establish the foundation of the Church? (a) How did He 
plan it? (0) How did He lay it? This matter might also be divided 
into various sermons, in a productive manner. 

15. The foundation of the Church. The papacy in the Acts of the 
Apostles. 

16. The foundation of the Church: What did Peter in Rome? (See, 
f .i., Schmid, Peter in Rome; Schanz, Apol. Ill, § 13, p. 436 sqq. ; Willmer, 
de ecclesia Christi, Kb. II, Art. 1 and 2, p. 196 sqq.; Specht, dieLehre des 
hi. Aug. III. c. pp. 124, 154. Compare the Innsbrucker Zeitschrift 
fur kath. Theologie, 1902, I and II, quartalheft: Petrus, Bishof von 
Rome, p. 33 sqq,. p. 225 sqq., by A. A. Kneller.) 

17. The foundation of the Church: the papacy during the first century. 
See Schanz, Apol. p. 13, p. 447 sqq.; Grisar, Geschichte Roms und der 
Paebste, I. B. n. 196-246, n. 296-302, n. 539 sqq. 

18. The foundation of the Church: the infallible teaching office of the 
Popes: What does Holy Scripture teach? 

19. The foundation of the Church: the infallible teaching authority 
of the Pope: What does history teach? (See Schanz, I c, § 14, p. 478 
sqq.) 

20. The foundation of the Church: great Popes: Peter, the Pope- 
matryrs, Leo the Great, Gregory the Great, Gregory VII. 

2 1 . The foundation of the Church. Its continuation in spite of the 
mistakes of some of the Popes in the course of history (an apologetic 
treatment). See p. 252. 

22. The constitution of the Church: bishops and priests. 

23. The constitution of the Church: the clergy and the laity (compare 
Specht, Lehre v. d. Kirche n. d. hi. Aug. Ill c, § 17, p. 105 sqq.). Very 
interesting and striking material. (Compare Heiner's Kirchenrecht.) 

24. The Christian people in the Church: (a) its unity; (b) its sanctity 
through the Church. 

25. The Church a free daughter of God (non sumus ancillae filii sed 
liber ae. Gal. 4, 31. See above, p. 291). 

26. The Church a teacher (see above, the cycle after Easter, p. 497 
sqq. Compare also pp. 1-14, and especially p. 4, note 2-5). 

27. The Church a master: the precepts of the Church. (Compare 
above, 2d Sunday of Lent, p. 278 sqq.) 

28. The Church a mother. (For the whole see p. 764 sqq.) 

§ 72. The Concluding Feasts of the Ecclesiastical 

Year 

I. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary — the conclud- 
ing feast. The feast is : 

1. A review of the life of Mary upon earth: "She hath chosen 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



the better part on earth," (a) Grace: "full of grace." (b) The 
word of God: "She preserved the words of Jesus and concerning 
Jesus in her heart." In a more exalted manner it may be said of 
her: sedens secus pedes Domini, audiebat verbum illius (Gospel). 
No grace from without (the word of God) and no grace from within 
was lost in her. She chose: (c) a ceaseless co-operation. In so 
much she was also like unto Martha : satagebat circa frequens mini- 
sterium: in the days of labor, of care, and of being united with and 
separated from Him, in the hours of holy joy and of inexpressible 
sorrow, at Nazareth, in the temple, at Cana, at the separation 
and in the messianic rejection, on Calvary and on Easter-day. 
But her frequens ministerium, her restless service, was dominated 
by the one thought : Porro unum est necessarium. (Compare the 
morning and the evening sacrifice with Christ, Candlemas, p. 58, 
and the sorrowful Friday with Good Friday, p. 300 sqq.) The 
Epistle describes most splendidly (in the sensu accommodate!) this 
taking root of divine wisdom in Mary on earth, Mary's growing 
up in pure sanctity and glory, like the cedars of Lebanon, like the 
rose of Jericho, and like the palm trees of Cades. And along with 
her Christ took root among His people and grew like a giant tree 
of Lebanon, like a giant palm of all the people. A glorious, aromat- 
ical balm, worthy of God, rises to heaven: the virtues of Christ 
and their imitation by Mary. Mary is the Bride of the Canticle 
of Canticles, who now returns home to her Bridegroom. 
2. A review of her life in heaven. 

(a) The fulness of grace becomes in her a fulness of glory: 
full of grace, full of glory: pulchra es et decora! sedens secus pedes 
Domini in aeternum! 

(b) Her fulness of labor and of suffering becomes to her a ful- 
ness of reward: the frequens ministerium becomes a receiving of 
service and being filled by the stream of divine joy. (Compare, 
also, Ps. 18 and 44 of the office, applied to Mary.) Nigra (through 
suffering) sed formosa! 

(c) The dignity of motherhood becomes to her an eternally 
glorified maternal joy: The glorified Son glorifies His Mother. 
(Compare the lessons taken from the Canticle of Canticles.) Fie 
does not merely glorify her soul. Also the body, which bore Him, 
becomes of itself and uniquely glorious — even before the last day 
it is taken up into heaven and is glorified. It, like the body of 
Jesus, should not see corruption. 



558 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(d) The office of mediatrix brings her a co-rejoicing with mil- 
lions, whose salvation she has obtained: "Ye are my crown." 
(Phil. 4: i.) She co-operated in the salvation of the millions who 
through her reached Jesus. 

(e) The friendship of all the angels and the saints secures for 
her the kingdom > of all angels and saints: Assumpta est Maria: 
gaudet exercitus angelorum ! Alleluia! Regina coeli ! Regina Apos- 
tolorum, martyr um, confessorum, virginum! 

(/) All things are first brought to her by Christ, the unveiled, 
the glorified One: optima pars, quae non auferetur ah ea. Vide- 
bimus eum sicuti est. How Mary shall see Him! 

The doctrine of the corporal assumption of Mary is not a dogma, 
but contained in the magisterium ordinarium of the Church. The 
dogmatic proof of congruity, as well as the testimonies of tradition, 
are especially richly and interestingly presented by Scheeben, 
Dogmat. Ill, B, § 281, pp. 570-599. The preacher will there find 
glorious treasures. See also Hurter, Heinrich, and Willmer on the 
same subject. 

N.B. The ideas developed on the vigil of the Ascension of 
Christ might also be applied in a sensu accommodato to this most 
faithful servant of the Lord. (See p. 490 sqq.) 

II. The feast of the Most Holy Rosary — as a concluding feast. 
In the rosary the whole life of Jesus and Mary are reflected. 

1. We contemplate the rosary of Mary, in order to understand 
the mysteries of the life, the death, and the resurrection of the 
only-begotten Son of God the more deeply. (Oration.) 

2. We imitate in the rosary that which is contained in the 
mysteries of the rosary (Oration): 

(a) The quiet obligation of prayer, of labor, and of perfection 
(the joyful mysteries). 

(b) The heavy carriage of the cross (the sorrowful mysteries). 

(c) In all the eternal thoughts (the glorious mysteries, p. 613, f.). 

3. We obtain what the mysteries promise: our resurrection, 
our ascension into heaven, our assumption and coronation, if in 
prayer and conflict we permit ourselves to be guided by Christ 
and the Holy Spirit Whom He has sent (the glorious mysteries). 

We recommend: (a) cycles of sermons on several or all of the series 
of mysteries as homiletic or catechetic instructions. Compare herewith, 
especially, the encyclicals on the rosary of Leo XIII, especially that of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



1893. Hattler, Roses of Christ in the Garden of Mary. With the sev- 
eral mysteries compare our explanations on Christmas, the family feast, 
Holy Week, Holy Saturday, Easter-week, Pentecost. Three or four of 
such sermons for October constitute a striking repetition of the entire 
doctrine of holy religion, of which the rosary is a compendium, a breviary. 
We recommend: 

(b) Sermons on the manner of saying the rosary, with the examples of 
meditation, f.i., the five joyful mysteries: five sacred spiritual journeys 
whilst the lips recite the Ave. (A journey with the angel to Nazareth, 
a journey with Mary to Elizabeth, a journey with Mary and Joseph to 
Bethlehem, a journey with Mary and the Infant to Jerusalem for the 
presentation, a journey with Jesus at the age of twelve, in company with 
Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem for the celebration of Easter.) The 
principal thought of the mystery should be explained in a short and 
highly colored description and the whole should be done in the form 
of a climax. It would often be very practical to preach on one 
solitary mystery. — I will select today one solitary mystery of the 
rosary. I will emphasize a series of thoughts which lie concealed 
in this mystery. These are thoughts which you can easily remember 
in the recitation of this mystery of the rosary. The imagination of 
the hearers and the reciters should be filled with biblical events and 
images thereof. The hearers should be expressly told that they may 
and should be occupied with such images during the recitation of 
the Aves or in their alternating recitation with the people respond- 
ing, f.i., in the mystery of the annunciation: Whom thou, oh glori- 
ous Virgin, hast conceived from the Holy Ghost. The angel and 
heaven salute Mary: Hail Mary! Mary is full of grace. All there- 
fore depends upon grace. Mary of herself is void of merit. God, 
therefore, builds solely upon the deep foundation of humility, which 
feels itself void, poor, unworthy: ecce ancilla Domini. Mary is the 
purest of all virgins. God is therefore attracted by the virginity and 
by chastity according to one's state of life. Jesus is the Son of the 
Most High, the Son of God, God Himself, King, and of His kingdom 
there shall be no end. And this supreme Son of God unites Himself 
with the most humble Virgin Mary and she becomes the Mother of God: 
therefore is she great : in her soul and in her dignity. Let us salute her ! 
Let us pray to God through her! These or similar trains of thoughts, 
taken from some of the chapters of the Gospels, on the angelic salutation, 
should be emphasized and developed in a sermon on this one mystery 
of the rosary, arranged logically and rhetorically, but as an explanation 
of the mystery of the rosary. The aim of such a sermon might be: to 
enrich the praying people with thoughts on this mystery of the holy 
rosary. 



560 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(c) Sermons on the morals of the rosary. Compare especially the 
encyclical of Leo XIII, of the year 1893, on the Holy Rosary. Compare 
our thoughts on Christmas (218 sqq., 234 sqq.), on the family feast (the 
vigil and the feast), Pentecost, the Assumption of the Bl. Virgin. 

(d) Sermons of a repetition of the ecclesiastical year, in the light of the 
holy rosary (compare § 64, p. 506; a review of the ecclesiastical year, 
p. 627 sqq. The last Sunday after Pentecost, p. 569 sqq.). 

(e) Sermons on the history of the holy rosary. " Toward the end 
of the twelfth century we rind that it had become generally the custom 
to use the angelical salutation (Luke 1, 28) jointly with the words of 
Elizabeth (Luke 1, 42) as a prayer. 1 This prayer, partly seriesly re- 
peated, in form of a litany or joined to the Our Father, was, as is evident, 
first approved of and recommended by a synod of Paris under Odo of 
Sully (Bishop from 1 196-1208). The combination of this prayer into 
a whole, in which fifteen times after the Our Father ten "Hail Marys" 
are recited for the preservation and the propagation of the purity of 
faith and of the life of faith, is derived, in spite of recent attacks to the 
contrary, in some shape from St. Dominic, and was, above all, propa- 
gated by his order. This prayer was most probably already then con- 
nected with a meditation on the life of Jesus. The deep-meaning 
coinage of the fifteen mysteries seems to have originated in the fifteenth 
century, and indeed through Dominic of Prussia and Adolf of Essen, 
two monks, who lived in the Carthusian monastery at Treves (see Esser, 
Beitrag zur Geschichte des Rosenkranzes, Katholik 1897, II). The 
rosary became a sort of a Breviloquium of Holy Scripture, of the doctrine 
of faith and of morals, a sort of a psalter for the people, but also a favor- 
ite prayer of the universal Church on all days, but especially in the time 
of need. The confraternities of the holy rosary arose thus also very 
early, f.i., those of Cologne as early as the year 1474. In times of dis- 
tress the Church was accustomed to appeal to the holy rosary, and the 
victory over the Turks at the Echinades (October 7, 1571) was justly 
attributed to the solemn supplications made through the holy rosary. 
Paul V ordered a feast of thanksgiving, Gregory XIII gave this feast of 
thanksgiving a permanency by granting its solemnity on the first Sunday 
of October to all the churches which had a rosary chapel or a rosary 
altar. After Clement X had already permitted the feast for the whole 
of Spain unconditionally, the glorious victory of Prince Eugene at Peter- 
wardein, in the year 1746, occasioned the extension of the feast of the 
holy rosary over the entire Christendom by Clement XI. Pius IX was 
a zealous promoter of the holy rosary devotion. Leo XIII elevated the 
rank of the feast and gave it a new and deeply conceived office. Leo 
XIII, through his encyclical on the holy rosary, gained for the prayer, 
so rich in contents and blessings, a wide circle; he developed its deep 

^ellner, Heortologie, pp. 157 ff. — Also for the following. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 561 



spirit and dedicated it, as it were, solemnly as the weapon of the Church, 
after it had already so often proved itself a means of grace for individ- 
uals and for all in general, especially so in the days of the need of faith. 
The spirit of Jesus breathes in this prayer, it is simple and plain, gloomy 
and terrible, glorious and grand. The trumpet blasts of the Church 
militant sound from its supplications, and over its call there hangs the 
consciousness of a higher victory: Haec est victoria, quae vincit mundum: 
fides nostra! Prayer and feast are Mary's rich garden of salvation 
— Mary's plantation of roses through which Jesus walks — wreaths of 
genuine spiritual roses woven for Mary and Jesus Himself by Christians 
and by Christendom 1 The month of October has become the month 
of the holy rosary. The feast and the devotion have become a sacred 
repetition of the whole life of Mary and of Jesus, toward the end of the 
ecclesiastical year. From the prayer, built almost entirely on the words 
and the thoughts of Holy Scripture, to which the Church adds her peti- 
tions — the exalted dogmatic principle speaks: Through Mary to Jesus! 

III. The feast of All Saints as the dosing feast of the ecclesi- 
astical year. 

Above, § 65, p. 513 sqq. f., we have already spoken of the 
character of the feast of All Saints. The liturgy unfolds : 

(a) The destiny and the home of the saints, in the Epistle (com- 
pare the Epistle: the glorious description thereof and of similar 
passages of the Apocalypse should be made interpreters and illustra- 
tions of the dogmatic thoughts on heaven) . (See above, the Assump- 
tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p. 556.) The liturgy shows: 

(b) The way to the destiny and to the home of the saints, in the 
gradual and the Gospel. If the Epistle described the glorious 
destiny then in the gradual stands 

(a) Christ on the way inviting us also: Venite ad me otnnes qui 
labor atis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos: alleluia! 

(/5) The Gospel, however, shows us the way of the saints in 
the light of the beatitudes. They are the program of Christ, 
the spirit of grace and of the law of Christ binding forever in the 
sphere of duty and even above it, showing higher and more glori- 
ous ways of an increasing love up to a degree of heroism. For a 
sermon select merely the one or the other beatitude for an exposi- 
tion, or develop briefly its entire contents by way of a climax. 

For sermons and cycles of sermons before and after All Saints 
on the beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, besides the well- 



562 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



known "Lives of Jesus," and commentaries on the Gospels, we 
would draw attention to: Dr. Schmitz, aux. Bishop of Cologne, 
"Die acht Seligkeiten des Christentums, etc.; J. Miillendorf, S.J., 
"Die Bergpredigt," etc. See also above, §57, "The litany of All 
Saints" (p. 485). 

The feast of All Saints furnishes, besides, a great wealth of themes. 
Some cycles of thoughts we have developed above in § 57 on the Lit- 
aniae majores et minores, and others in the whole review of the time 
after Pentecost. 

We recall here the following themes: 

1. The veneration of the saints. A historical sermon: (a) A journey 
to Rome, through the catacombs. (An explanatory, touching, and 
highly dramatic treatment of the witnesses of the catacombs. See the 
more recent apologetics, dogma, and monographs.) (b) A joyful jour- 
ney into the East, to the council of Ephesus : the enthusiasm of the early 
Church for Mary, (c) A sorrowful journey into the East, to the prisons 
of the times of oriental iconoclasm: witnesses of the veneration of 
pictures and of relics, (d) A rapid journey through the middle age; a 
panorama of the veneration of saints (cathedrals, churches, art, and 
life) — afterwards the whole picture together, (e) A walk to the gates 
of modern times: depict briefly the conflict and the storm against the 
veneration of the saints, and in the midst of the noise of the conflict point 
to the quiet, clear, and animated, but still the well-measured voice of 
the Church at the council of Trent. Then the meaning of the tridentine 
decisions and definitions on the veneration of the saints should be ex- 
plained as the fundamental thought of the Church, as a guiding star 
for us. 

2. The saints and true progress — from within and from without. 

3. The saints — rays of the sun — Christ Jesus. Select hastily some 
characteristic pictures of saints and show how all the various rays and 
features of Christ are stamped upon their lives, and invite us to an 
imitation. 

4. What is a saint? (According to Meschler, Gift of Pentecost: 
The Holy Ghost and the Saints, p. 373, 3d ed.) 

5. How do we become saints? (Various ideas of the V vol. of the 
Apol. of Weiss, O.P.) 

IV. All Souls — a closing feast of the ecclesiastical year. After 
having developed on the Sundays after Pentecost the kingdom of 
God on earth — the Church militant — from all sides, and after the 
feast of All Saints, gathered the Church triumphant, into one glori- 
ous whole, then the thought of the communion of saints urges a 
general feast in favor of the Church suffering. Upon the feast of 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 563 



the gloriously living follows the feast of the dead, of those "who 
live though they are dead." 

1. A cycle of thoughts. The preacher will find a great mine of 
thoughts in dogma and in ascetics on death, eternity, and purga- 
tory. (Compare especially the dogmatic works of Hurter and 
Willmer.) 

2. Inexhaustible treasures are found in the formularies of the 
missae de Requiem, the dies irae, the libera, the officium defunctorum. 
Fruitful themes are found, f.i. in the Catholic burial (touching 
explanations of the liturgy) in the mass for the dead — consecra- 
tion, for the poor souls (sacrifice of atonement and propitiation, 
cf. Gihr, the sacrifice of the mass. Lehmkuhl, theolog. moral. II, 
p. 127, n. 170, 2: 3). 

3. Themes, which invite deep reflection, are very effective, f.i.: 
A walk to the cemetery. Of what do graves speak to us? 

(a) Of immortality. (Some popularized proof of the immortality 
of the soul, into which several aspirations may be introduced.) See, 
f.i., Gutberlet,Psychologie; Willmer, Handbook, pp. 263, 277, 268, 269. 

(b) Of a glorious immortality. (Several explanations of the 
glorious resurrection of the soul and the body, in connection with 
the liturgy of the burial, [a short concentric gathering of thoughts,] 
or with the raising of Lazarus.) 

(c) Of the impediments of a glorious immortality. All this is a 
reminder of purgatory. Several effectively developed proofs should 
first furnish an explanation. Then the sermon should rise in con- 
stantly more urgent demand for help for the poor souls, and point 
out practical ways. Thus we shall return home from the cemetery 7 , 
enlightened by the serious and yet joyous light: — there is an 
immortal glory — and a meeting again — and touched by a deep 
warm love, which can give help even in eternity. The latent appli- 
cation to the personal ego will arise from itself. 

Consider that the whole liturgy of the day breathes pity, com- 
miseration, deep understanding of the depression and the sorrow 
(compare the lessons taken from Job), but it plays around and glori- 
fies all with rays of eternal light. 

It is not a day of destruction and pulling down, not a day for a 
sermon on hell, but a day for building up and for consoling: ut 
aedifices et plantes. The eternal thoughts will thus act more power- 
fully in a latent manner. 

These are days of prayer, of atonement, of reflection, which 



564 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



even the falling leaves recall and the last blade of straw, which 
the autumnal winds pursue: stipulum siccum persequeris! 

The following Sundays, and especially those which follow imme- 
diately All Souls' day, invite anew an introduction of these cycles 
of thought. 1 

All this is dipped into an eschatological light, especially the 
lessons taken from the last prophets. 

§ 73. The Feasts of Mary and of the Saints in General 

The feasts of Mary form, in a certain sense, a special marian 
ecclesiastical year. Possibly they are closely connected with the 
time in which they fall (the Conception, Candlemas-day, the 
Assumption), or they look forward to some future ecclesiastical 
time (Desponsatio B. M. in January and especially the Annuntiatio 
beatae Mariae Virginis look forward to the following Christmas). 
The office and the mass of the feasts of Mary contain within them- 
selves immensely rich material for sermons on Mary, which are 
very important. The wreath of the feasts of Mary constitutes one 
of the most lovely and beautiful of the entire ecclesiastical year, 
and leads us through Mary to Jesus. (See greater details below: 
Contents of sermons: Principal themes: Mary, p. 676, also above 
in the course of the ecclesiastical year and below among the con- 
cluding feasts of the ecclesiastical year.) 

The feasts of the saints are partly connected with the ecclesias- 
tical year, and their determination of time is partly based on other 
ground. The natalitia martyrum are extremely ancient (the day of 
death — the birth for heaven). Celebrated already in the cata- 
combs, they received especially in the Roman rite, through the 
processions in the catacombs under Pope Callistus, a new impetus 
and a greater preparation. The calendar of the feasts of the saints 
is an organism constantly on the increase, which brings forth new 
liturgical blossoms at all times. 

Besides the Commune Sanctorum, individual Propria of the office 
and of the mass appear in unique beauty. See, f.i., St. Joseph, 
St. Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Lawrence, St. Martin, St. Caecilia, St. 
Aloysius, St. Stanislaus Kostka, several more recent feasts of July, 
etc. (See details below in: Sermons on Saints: compare also the 
whole course of the ecclesiastical year.) 

1 See A. M. Eine Weile des Nachdenkens iiber die Seele. (1904). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 565 



§ 74. A Review of the Ecclesiastical Year — The Last Sun- 
day or the Ecclesiastical Year 

A. An entire picture 

1. Advent. The expected Redeemer. We expected Him Who 
is to come, and we have seen Him as our Redeemer and our Judge 
at the same time (I. Sunday of Advent), as our Saviour Messias (II. 
Sunday of Advent), as our Benefactor (III. Sunday of Advent), 
as our Way (IV. Sunday of Advent); (compare p. 200, §11.) 

2. Christmas. The Redeemer, Who came as a child. We stood at 
the crib and saw the Redeemer Who became man, Who can and will 
save us, our Christmas light and life. The figures at the crib and 
the saints of the octave show us the road to the Christ-child, 
whose birth we celebrated in time, in the hearts and in all eternity 
(Christmas unto the Vigil of Epiphany inclusively). 

3. Epiphany. The Redeemer, Who came as our King. The child 
appeared as the almighty God-King and the glorious King of the 
nations: a Christmas-Pentecost. The nations and the cultured 
of the earth approach and adore Him. As child He is King (Epiph- 
any), a King in youth (see the octave), a King as man (the day 
of the octave), He is King in His works, a King of nature and a 
King of humanity, of the family, of youth, of men (I. and especially 
the II. Sunday after Epiph.) He is our sacramental King (III. 
Sunday), King of the Church (IV. Sunday), in spite of the weeds 
of the personal sins of men (V. Sunday), by the royal power of 
the mustard seed and of the leaven from without and from within 
(V. Sunday) : Ecce advenit Dominator Dominus: et regnum in manu 
ejus et potestas et imperium. Adorate! A dor ate! 

We will conclude the lovely circle of Christmas with a medita- 
tion on the morning sacrifice of Jesus and Mary (Candlemas-day), 
and with a view of the quiet and sacrificial life of Jesus, Mary, and 
Joseph (family feast). The family is the proto-cell of Christian 
life. 

4. Eastertide, from Septuagesima to the octave of Pentecost, 
inclusively. The great work of the Redeemer. After we have 
learned to know the Redeemer in all His loveliness, we contem- 
plate His serious work, we accompany and imitate Him. This 
work is developed by many degrees. 

5. The time before Lent. The world and humanity are God's 



566 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



vineyard (Septuagesima), God's field (Sexagesima), purchased by 
Christ's love and blood (Quinquagesima). 

6. Lent. The conflict and the bloody battle in the work of 
the redemption. On the part of God — mercy is revealed : on our 
part — penance is required from without and from within (Ash 
Wednesday and its following Triduum). Christ assumes the direction 
and the completion; He is our example in conflict (I. Sunday of 
Lent) — our lawgiver for the conflict (II. Sunday of Lent) — the 
Transfiguration of Christ), the stronger, the victor in the conflict 
with strong Satan (even in us by baptism and paschal confession, III. 
Sunday of Lent). He is our gloriously divine host after the battle: 
He leads the liberated to the miraculous multiplication of Holy Com- 
munion (IV. Sunday of Lent). But He purchased victory and life at 
a high price. He is the Son of God and of man, and therefore also our 
bloody High Priest, whose entire picture we contemplate in Passion 
Week (Passion Sunday and week). To this entire picture there fol- 
low several pictures of His Passion : the triumphant procession with 
palms and with the cross (Palm Sunday) — the love of Jesus to the 
end (Holy Thursday) — the love of Jesus unto death (Good Friday). 
On this day are disclosed to us the promise of the Passion, the his- 
tory, the extent, the height and the depth, the width and the breadth, 
the manner and the fulfilment of the Passion : we are astounded, we 
adore — -humbled to the dust, we deplore, we repent, we crucify 
and we bury the old man with Christ, the crucified and buried 
bearer of sin. 

7. The solemnity of Easter. The Redeemer's victory after the 
battle. The Risen Saviour brings us new fire, new light, and new 
life. He announces Himself to the grave, to death, to the universe, 
to friends and to enemies, to the Church, and He organizes and 
perfects His Church. All is based on the foundation of the Church 
and of faith animated by the grace of Easter (Holy Saturday, 
Easter and its octave). The Risen Saviour is the author of faith 
and of grace in our souls (Low Sunday), the Good Shepherd of our 
souls (II. Sunday after Easter). He takes leave in order to see us in 
a little while again (III. Sunday after Easter), but He consoles us be- 
fore He departs for the little while, through the promise of the Holy 
Ghost (IV. Sunday after Easter), and shows us, before He goes 
to the Father, the grand power of prayer in His name for the little 
while of the battle (V. Sunday after Easter). Then He ascends 
into heaven by His own power: His work is finished (the 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 567 



Ascension). But He will not leave us orphans. We do not call 
upon our comforter in vain! (The octave before the Ascen- 
sion.) Ascended above the heaven of heavens and seated at 
the right hand of the Father, He sends the Holy Ghost upon 
the children of His love. The Holy Ghost whose home is the 
depth of the divinity, the heavens, establishes a home in the 
Church and in the souls of men (Pentecost). The Holy Ghost 
strengthens faith, brings and animates grace, directs the Church, 
creates her permanency, forgives sin, and gathers all who are poor 
in spirit and troubled and heavily laden into the house of Simon, into 
the Church of the world, where the life of Jesus is continued through 
the Holy Ghost (octave of Pentecost). 

8. The time after Pentecost. In adoration and thanksgiving 
we look up, after all these solemnities, to the primordial seat and 
source of all truth and grace, of all reconciliation and redemption, 
to the Most Adorable Trinity (Trinity Sunday), and if we descend 
to the Kingdom of Christ on earth, we rejoice that Christ remains 
with us to the end of days, not only in the power of the Holy Ghost, 
but also permanently in the most adorable sacrament of the altar 
(Corpus Christi). If we have adored and honored the primordial 
source of all these plans and works of God finally in the adorable 
Trinity, then we remain lovingly standing near the immediate 
source of all this love : near the opened Heart of the Redeemer made 
man: Ecce Deus S abator mens: fiducialiter agam . . . Haurietis 
aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris (feast of the Sacred Heart). 
And this Redeemer continues to live amongst us in the Church in 
the Holy Eucharist, in His word and with His graces. This is un- 
folded to us by the Sundays after Pentecost, in glorious and exalted 
pictures: we journey amidst the breath of the Holy Ghost again 
through the life of Jesus; not in solemn festive joy, but in quiet 
vivid remembrance and renovation. Everywhere we meet the 
saints, the followers of Jesus on the way of His truth, His grace, 
and His example, of His cross and of His sanctity — before all we 
meet the Blessed Mother of God, and after her innumerable souls 
of the Old and the New Covenant : Vidi turbani magnam ex omni- 
bus gentibus et tribubus et populis et Unguis stantes ante thronum et 
in conspectu Agni, amicti stolis albis et palmae in manibus eorum (All 
Saints). Having been purified and united with Christ through the 
Holy Ghost we feel ourselves, as members of the Church militant, 
one with the Church triumphant and suffering (All Saints and All 



568 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Souls). We have thus interwoven the mysteries of the life of Jesus 
with our prayer and life (compare the whole ecclesiastical year and 
especially the holy Rosary Sunday). And while the entire ecclesi- 
astical year formed about and in us a remembrance and renovation 
of the entire life of Jesus — each mass of each feast and of each day 
became a more complete remembrance and renovation of the life 
of Christ. Sorrowfully and repentingly we thought at each mass 
of the sinful world without Christ (prayer at the foot of the altar, 
the confiteor and the Kyrie), we honored Jesus, the divine child 
(the gloria), the divine teacher (the Epistle and Gospel), Jesus a 
sacrifice in His whole life (the offertory), a sacrifice for us in the 
bloody passion and death on the cross, which is renewed (in con- 
secration) in an unbloody manner. We descended with the merits 
of Jesus, as He did once into limbo, now into purgatory (the Memento 
mortuorum) and then we ventured, being reconciled through Him, to 
say: Our Father, Who art in Heaven. Then we honored the Risen 
Jesus (in the mixing of the species and communion), and we united 
ourselves with Him spiritually or really, to receive from His divine 
hand, as did the Apostles on the day of the Ascension, the last bless- 
ing as a pledge of that last of all decisive blessings, on the day of 
judgment: Venite benedicti (the last blessing of the mass)! Thus 
we may confess with Holy Scripture and the Church, at the close 
of every mass, and especially at the end of the ecclesiastical year, 
at which we stand before the gates of eternity and hear the trumpet 
blast calling to judgment (compare the Gospel of the last Sunday 
after Pentecost) : et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis: et 
vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre, plenum 
gratiae et veritatis. — Verbum vitae manibus contrectavimus. — Per- 
transiit bene faciendo. — Christus vivit, Christus vincit, Christus im- 
perat, Christus populum suum defendit ab omni malo. Christus heri 
et hodie: ipse et in saecula benedictus! 

A dogmatic and moral selection of these thoughts might serve 
as a practical exegesis of splendid texts of the Introit and the grandly 
arranged Epistle of the last Sunday of the ecclesiastical year. 

The closing Sunday of the ecclesiastical year. It embraces all 
once more in one whole : 

A. On the part of God there rule over us : 

(a) Thoughts of peace and not of revenge: ego cogito cogitationes 
pads et non afflictionis (Introit, compare the whole ecclesiastical 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 569 



year). The substantial thoughts of (a) Christmas, (0) Good Friday, 
(y) of Easter to Pentecost might easily be developed from this 
text so that they might mutually exclude and supplement each 
other. This could furnish a sermon in itself. Only when compelled 
by human malice does God reveal 

(b) Thoughts of revenge, as the Gospel on the judgment of 
Jerusalem shows, and really : Cum sancto sanctus eris: — cum per- 
verso perverteris. To the saint, 0 God! Thou revealest thy 
sanctity: with the perverse Thou dealest perversely. 

B. But on our part the fruits of peace should prosper, which the 
ecclesiastical year matures and the Epistle describes: 

(a) Ut impleamini agnitione voluntatis Dei in omni sapientia et 
intellectu spiritali: Christian knowledge of truth and of the law, i.e., 
of the will of God: thorough understanding of religion. 

(b) Ut ambuletis digne Deo per omnia placentes: Christian life 
along the whole line: What does God think of this? Such should 
be the question of each of our actions, and not: Do I please men? 

(c) Crescentes in scientia Dei, confortati secundum potentiam 
Claritatis ejus, etc.: Christian progress in the doctrine and the 
grace of religion, through the power of the grace of Christ. 

(d) Gratias agentes Deo Patri, qui digni nos fecit in partem sortis 
sanctorum . . . qui eripuit nos de potestate tenebrarum et transtulit 
vos in regnum Filii dilectionis suae: in quo hob emus redemptionem 
per sanguinem ejus, remissionem peccatorum: Christian gratitude 
to God for all doctrine, grace, and progress during the ecclesiastical 
year, but, above all, for Christ's deeds and renewed deeds in the 
closing spiritual year. 

There is scarcely a more beautiful chapter of the ecclesiastical 
year than this liturgy of the last Sunday. 

We recommend, furthermore, for sermons on the last Sunday, and 
the last Sundays of the ecclesiastical year, extensive homilies on the last 
judgment and the grand parables of the jugdment (Lohmann, Leben 
Jesu, pp. 243-251 ; Lohmann, Betrachtungen, IV B. ; Grimm, Leben Jesu 
5 bd., pp. 73-683; Polzl, Kommentar zum Mathaeus und Lukas evangel- 
ium) . For the homily (which is absolutely necessary from time to time 
on account of the difficult text) it must be remembered that the signs of 
the judgment are to be treated, of which some occur in the judgment 
(destruction) of Jerusalem, and others will occur in the judgment of the 
world, but most in both judgments. It should likewise be remembered 
that the combination in the Gospel was a double answer to the double 



57° 



HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



question of the disciples (Matt. 24, 3) : What shall be the sign at the 
judgment of Jerusalem and of the world? which question they asked 
on the Wednesday of Holy Week, and which Jesus answered (see Polzl, 
Kommentar z. Mat. p. 382). 

In connection with this Sunday a cycle of sermons might be 
delivered on the entire grand eschatalogical sermon of the Lord, 
which is in keeping with this Gospel. (Compare Lohmann, Evan- 
gelienharmonie : Vita D. N. J. Ch., n. 164-168, and Polzl, Komm. 
pp. 381-413; Lohmann, Betrachtg., Nov. 19 to Nov. 23.) 

After this exhaustive treatment of the liturgy and of the ecclesi- 
astical year, as sources of sacred eloquence (pp. 170-633), w T e might 
be permitted to treat more briefly the rest of the chapters of this 
as well as the following books, since w^e have already anticipated 
the construction from all sides, in the development of the ecclesi- 
astical year. 

In two chapters (pp. 90-159 and 159-571) the Holy Scripture 
and the liturgy w T ere considered as sources of sacred eloquence; in a 
third chapter we will now r consider the works of the Fathers of the 
Church. 

CHAPTER III 
THE WORKS OF THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH 

1. The significance of the works of the Fathers of the Church. 
We have repeatedly pointed, especially in the treatment of the 
ecclesiastical year, 1 to the exalted homiletic importance of the 
voice, the views, and the testimonies of the Fathers of the Church, 
both theoretically and practically. Therefore, it will suffice to 
collect here the most important viewpoints for a homiletic utiliza- 
tion of the Fathers of the Church. The writings of the Fathers of 
the Church are truth and life-giving and constantly refreshing sources 
for the preacher, and, next to Holy Scripture and the liturgy, in 
many respects the richest mine for homiletics. The reasons for 
this are partly the same as those which serve as proof of the sig- 
nificance of the Fathers for theology. Still, very unique new points 
of view arise. We desire to recall here the following thoughts : 

(a) Next to Holy Scripture — they are the most ancient and 
grand witnesses of revelation ; 

1 The liturgy is a Breviloquium of Holy Scripture and of practical patrology; 
compare especially the breviary. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 571 

(b) They are directly and closely connected with the life of the 
ancient Church, with the Apostles, and with Christ Himself; 

(c) They are deeply penetrated by the innermost spirit of the 
religion of Christ; 

(d) They unite, in many ways, a glorious and a popular elo- 
quence with a deep religiosity and an exalted authority; 

(e) The condition of their times corresponds in many ways with 
modern times. 

2. The use of the Fathers of the Church. Consider the follow- 
ing hints: 

(a) The study, and especially the homiletic study of positive 
dogma and moral, as well as patrology, leads likewise to the homi- 
letic understanding of the Fathers. Compare, f.i., the excellent 
patristic proofs in the dogmatic works of Hurter, Heinrich, Schee- 
ben, Perrone, and in the moral works of Miiller, Gopfert, Hirscher, 
Sailer, and added to these the patrologies of Fessler, Nirschl, Barde- 
hewer, Jungmann, etc. 

(b) The reading of the writings of the Fathers, especially the 
more extended reading of several writings, with pen in hand, fos- 
ters and fructifies homiletic work. St. John Chrysostom is always 
among the first to be recommended, especially his celebrated 
homilies on the Gospel of Matthew; this was likewise done by Pope 
Leo XIII in his encyclical to the Italian clergy on sermons. 

Among the Latin Fathers St. Augustin is especially very use- 
ful. Bossuet took him especially for his source and model. 

Furthermore, the selection is immensely rich, and the most 
practical and important writings are now, generally, very acces- 
sible. St. Chrysostom, among the Fathers, is the great popular 
exegete: Augustin, the man of great ideas and antitheses, the 
psychologist, the pragmatic, the preacher of love and of conver- 
sion; Cyprian is the practical ascetic (compare his smaller writ- 
ings) ; Ambrose, the social politician among the Fathers, the great 
preacher of social justice and of love (see his address on: Be Nabothe 
Jezraelita); Gregory the Great is the great moral preacher; Leo 
the Great appears as the animated dogmatic festive preacher (com- 
pare his homilies; see our treatise on the ecclesiastical year, espe- 
cially the solemn feasts) ; Bernard is the preacher of love, of the 
Passion of Christ, of the inner life of grace and especially also of 
the more eminent sermons on Mary (homilies on missus est). Es- 
pecially grand are his eighty-six addresses on the Cantica. Of St. 



572 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

Bernard we have altogether three hundred and twenty-one ad- 
dresses in a biblical tone and spirit, full of love, tenderness, and 
candor, and of an unique eloquence and elegance: now and then, 
however, his presentations are somewhat far-fetched and exag- 
gerated. 

3. The manner and mode of using the texts of the Fathers. 
The texts of the Fathers might be homiletically used as direct 
proof, as an interpretation of Holy Scripture, as illustration, as 
bearers of sacred aspirations and affections, as witnesses of uni- 
formity in Catholic thought and sentiment of the present and of 
ancient times, as a basis for entire sketches of sermons. Often 
the fruitful texts of the Fathers are suitable for the elaboration of 
entire dispositions, f.i, the passage of St. Bernard: Cogita unde 
veneris — et erubesce; ubi sis — et ingemisce; quo vadas — et con- 
tremisce; and thus also many texts of St. Augustin, Leo, and 
Ambrose. 

All these works become far more fruitful if, through methodic 
reading, one has become familiar with the Fathers of the Church. 
But after having emphasized these works, by means of Holy Scrip- 
ture and liturgy, very seriously and from all sides, we should here 
guard against exaggerating the general demands. We will make 
the following suggestions: 

(a) Select, from time to time, some larger writing of a Father, 
f.i., the homilies of St. John Chrysostom, the tract of St Augustin 
on St. John; read, with pen in hand, making notes of the fruitful 
thoughts and their place by catchwords in a running commentary 
or in your cornu copiae. Add to this some personal homiletic re- 
flections. (See below, the suggestions of Sailer.) 

(b) Select, for a change, the smaller writings of the Fathers, and 
study them in like manner. The Latin collection by Hurter and 
the German by Thalhofer offer a rich selection. 

(c) Study some of the more recent monographs on the one or 
other Father of the Church, f.i., by Specht, Die Lehre von der 
Kirche, n. dem hi. Augustin (Paderbom, Schoningh, 1892, very suit- 
able for preachers), Hertling: Augustinus, Wolfsgriiber: Augustinus; 
Kellner, der hi. Ambrosius als Erklarer des A. T. (Regensburg) . 

(d) Study the proofs of the Fathers in individual sermons and 
cycles of sermons as an indirect preparation — with pen in hand — 
somewhat extensively. We recommend especially: Hurter, Schee- 
ben, Perrone, and Heinrich's Dogma tik. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



(e) Study the fundamental concepts of the Fathers on certain 
questions in solid works, f.i., the concepts of the Fathers on private 
ownership and its administration, by Cathrein, Moral philosophic, 
B. II., p. 279 (2 ed.), the idea of the Fathers on the care of the poor, 
by Ratzinger, Christliche Armenpflege, etc. 

(/) A very important aid, in the reading of the Fathers and for 
their practical study, is offered in the study or frequent consulta- 
tion of the commentaries on the Gospels by Cornelius a Lapide, 
the purchase of which we highly recommend to preachers. The 
homilist will evidently not forget, in the exuberance of his joy, a 
critical examination of this richly garnered thesaurus. 

A very interesting treatise on the homiletic knowledge of the 
Fathers is contained in Schleininger, "Das kirchliche Predigtamt," 
pp. 97-164. The breviary furnishes, moreover, knowledge of the 
Fathers to the preacher, especially knowledge of some excellent 
particular passages, especially so in the lessons of the II. and partly 
those of the III. nocturn. (Compare our detailed introduction to 
the ecclesiastical year.) A direction and examples in the use of the 
Fathers and particular passages of the Fathers for a freer exposi- 
tion of proofs, of comparisons, contrasts, and practical applications, 
are furnished by the classical preachers, above all, by Bourda- 
loue and by Bossuet. Excellent incentives for homiletic studies 
of the Fathers and for homiletic reading of the Fathers in general 
are also found in Sailer, in the first volume of his Pastoraltheolo- 
gie: Praktisches Studium der Vater (pp. 179-184, and especially 
184-199). 

Finally we should like to call attention to the fact that the one 
or the other method of the use of Holy Scripture, which we propose 
above, p. 157 sqq., is also suitable for the homiletic fructification of 
the writings of the Fathers. 

Corollary I. Homiletic characteristics of some of the more prominent 
Fathers. In connection with Schleiniger, Sailer, Fessler, Nirschl, and 
others we shall give here some special suggestions, especially to those 
whose time and leisure are their own, or whose vocation and inclination 
bring them near to the Fathers. 

St. Cyprian 

About Cyprian St. Augustin wrote in ancient times: Cujus landem 
consequi non valeo, cujus multis Uteris mea scripta non comparo, cujus 



574 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

ingenium diligo, cujus ore delector, cujus charitatem tniror, cujus martyrium 
verier or. 

And in modern times Mohler wrote: "His writings are a radiation 
from his intellectual greatness and charm. To say nothing of their inner 
contents, he who would describe their beauty, their attractive clearness, 
the finish of their forms, the attractive charm of his full-sounding elo- 
quence, which flows from him as refreshingly and unctuously as a silvery- 
lighted stream, when he wishes to animate for some exalted purpose, 
or roars like a powerful forest-stream when he rises to defend truth and 
discipline, when he drives unbidden arbitrariness and self-interest from 
the sanctuary — he who would describe this alone, would have to borrow 
from him the gift of the orator. Herein he is, without the least doubt, 
the most marvelous writer of this period, and all have paid him homage. 
As is the case with the Latin writers in general, so, too, was Cyprian's 
course pre-eminently practical, and this far more than that of Tertullian. 
With speculation and dialectics he would have naught to do, therefore 
we possess little of him which might be applied in the apologetics of 
Christianity against heretics, Jews, and pagans. His mind followed a 
different trend — the formation of a Christian life." (S. Schleiniger, 
Predigtamt, p. 103.) We refer to Ep. 55, ad Cornelium Papain, Ep. 1, 
ad Donatum (on the power of grace), but especially to his treatise de 
oratione dominica. (Compare vol. II of Hurter's collection, which con- 
tains all the writings of the Fathers on the Our Father.) This writing is 
a veritable fountain of the youth of sacred eloquence. We also recom- 
mend to the homilist especially the: Liber de opere et eleemosynis, and 
de unitate ecclesiae. 

St. Ambrose 

St. Ambrose pursues an eminently practical course. On the one 
hand he is a Christian social politician, full of vigor and of a highly culti- 
vated, natural and juridical and Christian sense of justice. Then, again, 
he is a man of emotions : many of his writings are intellectual ambrosiana 
and nectar. The selection of St. Ambrose, contained in the breviary, 
and homiletically treated, is not a very happy one. We learn to know 
him far less than, f.i., John Chrysostom, Leo or Augustin. Of his many 
writings we will only mention those homiletically more prominent: 

(a) Expositio in Ps. 118 in twenty- two addresses — an excellent 
work. Commentary on St. Luke and on the Hexaemeron. (Sermons 
for Lent.) 

(b) Liber de Nabothe Jezraelita, noted for its magnificent rhetoric, 
grand Christian social problems, but, still, not without some mistakes. 
For a deeper understanding of these and similar addresses of St. Ambrose, 
f.i., of 11 de Tobia" the explanations by Ratzinger and Cathrein will be 
very useful (see Ratzinger: Die Volkswirthschaft in ihren sittlichen 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 575 



Grundlagen, Herder, 1895, p. 290 sqq., pp. 311-324; Cathrein, Moral 
philosophic, II. B. p. 279, §5). 

(c) De Spiritu Sancto, libri III (on the divinity of the Holy Ghost). 

(d) De virginibus, libri III. This work is brilliant in matter and form. 
Related thereto is: liber de virginitate and exhortatio virginitatis. Many 
of these books originated through formerly delivered sermons. 

Many of the preserved addresses — owing to the crowded occupation 
of the author (compare herewith the Confessiones of St. Augustin), and 
to his powerful, rhetorical talent, and to the constant indirect preparation 
by the saint — remained simply richer sketches, only completed by oral 
delivery. 

St. Augustin 

The works of St. Augustin are and will ever remain, in matter, a 
glorious school of most exalted Catholic thoughts. In regard to form 
and speech they are unique examples of the most astounding populariza- 
tion of deep mysteries, full of dramatic life and virtual conversation. 
Love is diffused over all like a splendor of transfiguration, and a fine 
psychological glance will discover very often surprising and rare view- 
points. Withal, however, St. Augustin is not free from a certain 
effort to produce accords and contrasts, though, again, some of the 
antitheses belong to the grandest that patristic literature produced 
in this line. In this genial mind some of the attendant phenomena of 
the contemporary pagan and Christian rhetoric worked together: the 
enjoyment of a rich and iridescent use of linguistic means, in the 
most narrow sense of the word, and a certain profusion of allegories 
and symbolical mysticism. Again, many of his written elabora- 
tions are hastily planned and indirect preparations, drawn from the 
superabundant treasury of the speaker; they are crutches and instru- 
ments which the rhetorician threw away in the triumph of his speech, 
which like an eagle raised itself and playfully formed into unity what 
indirect and direct preparation had long ago assumed into the plan like 
building stones. We recommend especially: 

(a) The dogmatic and pragmatic works as a school of grand, warm, 
and Catholic thoughts, above all: De Civitate Dei, libri XXII. The 
second part of the work is especially homiletically useful (compare, 
Orosius, hist. II, 7, on the divine judgments since the beginning of the 
world — Sabrianus : on the divine government of the world — de provi- 
dentia, sen de gubernatione Dei et de justo Dei praesentique judicio — a 
book of consolation amidst the storm of the migration of nations: the 
L., 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 are very stimulating to the homilist). Compare also 
Haneberg, Geschichte der biblischen Offenbarung, Grimm, Leben Jesu, 
introduction and the chapters on the genealogical tree according to 
Matthew and Luke; compare also our studies above, pp. 1 10-147. 



576 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(b) The psychologic-ascetic works: above all, the Confessiones. 

(c) The homiletic-catechetic works: de doctrina Christiana, de catechi- 
zantibus rudibus, and especially: Liber Enchiridii ad Laurentium de fide, 
spe et charitate, & real gold mine: "opus vere aureuni, nocturna et diurna 
manu versandum." (Mauriner.) 

id) The homiletic-exegetic writings: about 400 sermons, the Ennara- 
tiones in Psalmos, the tractatus in Joannem. 

The Augustinian school emphasizes especially our ideas of Christ, 
grace, faith, love, conversion, Church, providence, design of the world, 
of divine pedagogics and pragmatics in general and in particular. 

Leo the Great 

Leo the Great, as we have already remarked, has been appointed the 
festive preacher of liturgy. This is not without a reason. He Chris- 
tianizes the style of Cicero. Grand dogmatic thoughts are combined 
with apologetic power: the address moves along partly in a magnificent 
construction of periods, with sublimity and dignity, with richness and 
clearness, in flowing harmony. 1 Not infrequently are we disturbed by 
a certain pompousness and an excessive playing with antitheses, as a 
debt to the mannerism of the times, and to this is added, in the morally 
emotional passages, a certain dryness, while pathos and unction are 
diffused into the discourses on the mysteries. Leo's discourses are very 
brief. 

We will especially mention the fifty-six short festive sermons, pre- 
eminent among which are the sermons on the Nativity and the Epiphany 
of the Lord. The mystery of the incarnation is really classically treated 
by Leo. The person of Jesus Christ is grandly developed and described 
on the background of humiliation. 

Gregory the Great 

The works of Gregory the Great form, at all times, very useful 
reading-matter for the homilist. What Na talis Alexander said of his 
libri XXXV Moralium may be said, more or less, of all of his works: 
opus itud moralis evangelicae promptuarium est: concionatoribus et ani- 
marum curatoribus et directoribus diligenter et assidue legendum. The 
regular pastoralis is, according to an expression of the holy Bishop 
Licinianus: Virtutum omnium aula (a fountain for teaching the states 
of life) . The XL homilies in Evangelia contain especially exalted moral 
teaching, much of which has been taken from Augustin. Even more 
than in St. Ambrose do we find here exaggerated allegories which even 
the contemporaries noticed, in spite of the existing mannerism. There 
breathes through all of his writings a real pastoral spirit. Their form is 
1 Schleiniger, Das kirchliche Predigtamt, 3 ed., p. 144 sqq. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 577 



plain, often without any swing, but rises at times to an exalted majesty, 
especially when Gregory illumines the pragmatics of the history of the 
world and of the times in magnificent pictures. 

St. John Chrysostom 

Immortal characteristics proclaim this noble man, time and again, 
a homiletic guide, and which have moved Leo XIII, in an encyclical to 
the Italian clergy against all sorts of rhetorical extravagances, to desig- 
nate John Chrysostom the real homiletic teacher. These characteristics 
are: 

1. His luminous theologically profound biblical exegesis, which is 
free from all affectation and is practical, incisive, and popular. 

2. His deep knowledge of men, his keen psychological insight. 

3. His all-around popularity. 

4. His eminently practical tendency. 

5. His happy combination of old- Greek classicalism with oriental 
richness of thought and images, all under the scepter of Christian pas- 
toral love, which knows no limits nor impediments. 

6. His masterly and loving descriptions of the person of Christ, 
whom he constantly puts into the middle and center, and his animated 
love for the great Apostle St. Paul, into whose spiritual school he pene- 
trated very deeply. 

From the great wealth of his homiletic writings we will select some 
which are especially valuable, but not all equally elaborated and literally 
completed : 

(a) Ninety homilies in Mathaeum: 1 the masterpiece of Chrysostom, 
an incomparable school of exegetic homilies and of homilies in general. 
A serious study of these homilies, in Greek or in Latin, in German or in 
an English text, would lead the preacher, in a unique fruitful manner, 
to the first sources. We desire to draw especial attention to the homilies 
5-12 and to the homilies 22 and 43. 

(b) Expositio in Psalmos: here the most exalted idealism is combined 
with a forceful and practical realism. The explanation of Psalm 41 
is grandly arranged and also rhetorically and perfectly constructed. 2 

(c) Eighty-eight homilies in Joannem: these are more exegetically 
than rhetorically developed, but offer to the preacher of today, as they 
did once to the author, an excellent basis for preparation. 

(d) From the rest of his works we would call attention to his De 
Sacerdotio, one of those books which one loves to read, in small doses, 

1 There appeared a very excellent and an inspiring work on the homilies and 
addresses, of John Chrysostom, in the Linzer Quartalschrift of 1902, 1, n., p. 70 sqq. 
and II H., p. 324 sqq., by Dr. Scheiwiller, Rector in St. Gall. 

2 See Scheiwiller, 1. c, II, Heft, p. 327. 



578 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



on journeys or little trips, and relish by degrees during moments of 
leisure for universal stimulation. Homiletically significant are, further- 
more, the: libri de virginitate and the libri duo ad viduam juniorem. 
Excellent thoughts for sermons on the proximate occasion of sin are 
gathered from the libri duo de subintroductis. Homiletically rich are 
the three books: Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae, with striking 
passages on education, on the love of neighbor, against impurity, and 
against the danger of the world. A real treasure of elevated thoughts 
for consolation in suffering is offered by the book: Quod nemo laeditur 
nisi a se ipso. Among the panegyrics we will mention, above all, that 
on St. Paul: de laudibus S. Pauli. 

Scheiwiller justly draws attention to a comparison of the, alas, only 
homily that has come to us from Gregory of Nazianzen, on Matt. 19, 
1-2. He speaks therein of Christ, of marriage, and of virginity. "The 
homily is characterized by that entirely finished spiritualized impress 
which stamps the great Nazianzen in his conceptions on all questions 
and distinguishes him from the sharp realism of Chrysostom. 1 Here we 
should like to express the thought of how beautifully and uniquely the 
various schools and tendencies acted upon Catholic sermons. The 
greatest sacred orators often furnish us the finest and most select blos- 
soms of entire theological schools, and, not infrequently, the fruits of a 
unique combination of the different tendencies in the triumphant field 
of sacred eloquence: think, f.i., of a Chrysostom, a Gregory of Nazianzen, 
an Augustin, a Leo, a Bernard." 

Corollary II. Some of the homiletic methods of the practical study 
of the Fathers. 

1. Use the explanations of the Holy Scripture, contained in the 
exegesis of the Fathers. 

2. Select prolific (but not general texts that express very little), as 
starting-points of dogmatic expositions or as settings for moral exhorta- 
tions. Thus, f.i., Bourdaloue makes use of the text of Pacian, on the 
feast of the Most Blessed Trinity: u Sciebant mori et non sciebant dis- 
putareT 

"Christians! how beautiful are the words of a holy bishop, who, 
speaking of the early martyrs, exclaimed: They knew not how to talk 
much about faith, but they know how to die for it! Sciebant mori, et 
non sciebant disputare (S. Pacian). Of us, alas! the contrary may be 
said : we know how to talk much about the doctrines of faith, but neither 
to die nor to live up to it ! Never was there so much hair-splitting talk, 
so much disputation about faith and religion, so much audacity in 
questioning most exalted mysteries, and yet: never so little faith and 
religion. And why? Because nothing destroys faith and piety more 

1 See Scheiwiller, 1. c., p. 327. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



than precisely this vanity to shine in religious disputation and to dispute 
about everything. Those of whom St. Pacian speaks were satisfied to 
know two things : to believe and to die. We, however, know everything, 
but not these two things. We desire to believe only what suits us, and 
not to trouble ourselves in the least to do that which we believe. They 
knew how to die for their faith: sciebant mori, and we? With all our 
acumen we have not learned to live according to our faith; we call our- 
selves Christians and live as pagans, and through this smeltering of 
paganism with Christianity in deed and in life, in word and in faith, we 
have brought forth a monster more condemnable than paganism itself, 
because it combines with the abomination of the latter the desecration 
of the former. Behold, brethren, a reflection which I hope you will 
make in the sight of God. 

" Remember that you adore a triune God, whose most proper and 
essential nature is holiness, and that there is no degree of sanctity after 
which we should not aspire, in order to become worthy adorers of this 
Most Adorable Trinity. Yes, to adore Him in spirit and in truth, accord- 
ing to our capability, we must be holy as He is holy. These are the ador- 
ers whom the Father seeketh : nam et Pater tales quaerit qui adorent eum 
(John 4, 23); never will He regard other adorers as true! nam et Pater 
tales quaerit. He is a holy God, He will have only saints as servants. 
The first angel was not so, and the God of holiness could not tolerate 
him to be reckoned among his adorers; He rather chose that he blas- 
pheme Him in hell than praise Him in heaven." The last passage 
contains a rhetorical bias and exaggeration. 

Thus also does St. Thomas of Villanova make use of an expression 
of St. Augustin: u Ab aliis virtutibus potest se aliquis excursare, a charitate 
nemo'' for a beautiful extension of a so-called enumeratio (ser. 1 ad dom. 
17, p. Pent.). To this we may also class the splendid description of the 
triumph of the cross of Christ by Bossuet (on the feast of the Circum- 
cision of the Lord, 1. sermon) according to Tertullian (adv. Jud. n. 7), 
and in the second sermon on the feast of the presentation of the Kingdom 
of Christ as an immensely beneficial power, also according to Tertullian 
(L. 2 adv. Marcion n. 11). According to Schleiniger, Predigtamt, p. 157. 

3. Select texts of the Fathers for a direct or indirect basis of entire 
divisions. See, f.i., Bourdaloue's sermon on All Saints in connection 
with Leo the Great: Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis suis, in quibus et nobis 
praesidium constituit et exemplum. In the sermon on the wedding of 
Cana he uses the Augustinian sentence: Bonum habent nuptiae et hoc 
tripartitum: proles, fides, sact -amentum. Bourdaloue treats accordingly 
the (sacramental) sanctity of marriage (s acr amentum) , the fidelity of 
marriage (fides), the highest duty of marriage: the education of children 
(proles). 



580 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



4. Select patristic texts as a vivid expression of great human and 
Christian sentiments. Thus, f.i., the splendid Augustinian expression: 
felices esse volumus et infelices esse nolumus, nec velle possimus: happy we 
wish to be; unhappy we loath to be; aye, we cannot even wish to be 
unhappy — describes in a unique way the longing after happiness. 
(See Thomas I, II, qu. 1). 

5. Attempt free imitations, as the Fathers themselves have done 
in regard to grand models. 

6. Place citations of the Fathers in the original or translated text 
together, mark them by catchwords or group them under determined 
points of view. Such work is often commendable for very small writ- 
ings or for a collection of thoughts of various patristic exegeses on some 
chapter of the Gospel. 

We will give several examples taken from Sailer's Pastoraltheologie 
(I, 184 sqq.) . We will not enter here into any closer critical text revision. 
But we should like to say a warm word in favor of Sailer's method, in 
connection with the following citations. 

Corollary III. Examples of practical studies of the Fathers. First 
attempt — Classical passages on the nativity of Christ, gathered from 
the Fathers. 

A. From Origen 

1. Si films Dei f actus est homo, quod nemo eorum, qui eum recipiunt, 
ambigit; quid mirum, si homo credens in filium Dei filius Dei futurus sit. 
Ad hoc siquidem Verbum in carnem descendit, ut in ipsum caro, id est 
homo, credens, per carnem in Verbum ascendat, ut per naturalem filium 
multi filii efficiantur adoptivi. Non propter seipsum Verbum caro factum 
est, sed propter nos qui non nisi per Verbi carnem potuissemus in filios Dei 
transmutari. Solus descendit, ut cum multis ascender et: de hominibus 
facit Deos, qui de Deo facit hominem (Horn. 2, in diver sis sub finem.) 

The object of the incarnation. 

B. From Augustin 

2 . Itaque filius Dei hominem assumpsit, et in illo humana perpessus 
est. Haec medicina hominum tanta est, quanta non potest cogitari. Nam 
quae superbia sanari potest, si humilitate filii Dei non sanatur? quae 
avaritia sanari potest, si paupertate filii Dei non sanatur ? quae iracundia 
sanari potest, si patientia filii Dei non sanatur (De agone Christians, 
c. II). 

On the influence of the doctrine of faith in the incarnation upon our 
happiness. 

3. Erigat spem suam genus humanum, et recognoscat naturam suam; 
videat quantum locum habeat in operibus Dei! Nolite vos ipsas contem- 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 581 



nere, foeminae ! filius Dei natus ex foemina est. Nolite tamen amare carna- 
lia, quia in filio Dei nec masculus nec foemina sumus (Eodem libro et cap.) 
On the dignity of the incarnation. 

4. Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Tanquam diceret: 
O homines, nolite desperare, vos fieri posse filios Dei, quia et ipse hoc est, 
verbum Dei caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Reddite vicem, efficiamini 
spiritus et habitate in illo, quia caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Neque 
enim jam desperandum est, participatione verbi fieri posse homines filios 
Dei, quando filius Dei participatione carnis f actus est filius hominis (Epist. 
120, nunc 140, ad Honor., n. 4). 

On the divine generation of man. 

C. From Chrysologus 

5. Sic ergo nasci voluit, quis amari voluit, non timeri (Sermo 158). 
On the loveliness of the Redeemer, manifested in the form of His 

childhood, in which He appeared. 

6. Ipse ad nos descendit, ad quern nos non poteramus ascendere 
(Serm. 3, de nat). 

On the divine friendship manifested for man through the incarnation 
of the Word. 

7. Talis igitur, dilectissimi, nativitas decuit Dei virtutem et Dei sa- 
pientiam, Christum, qua nobis et humilitate congrueret et divinitate prae- 
celleret. Nisi enim esset Deus, non afferet remedium: nisi esset homo, non 
praeberet exemplum. 

On the power and wisdom of God, which are manifested in the in- 
carnation of the Word. 

D. From Maximus Taurinensis 

8. In navitatem ejus nostra omnium vita habet natalem {Horn. 2, 
in nat. Dom.) 

The birthday of our salvation and life. 

E. From St. Bernard 

9. 0 suavitatem, 0 gratiam, O amoris vim! Itane summus omnium 
unus f actus est omnium? Quis hoc fecit? Amor dignitatis nescius, dig- 
natione dives, suasu efficax (Serm. 64, in cant). 

On the cause of the incarnation — on the love of God to man. 

10. Quid tantopere declarat ejus misericordiam, quam quod ipsam 
suscepit miseriam (Serm. I, de Epiphan.). 

The incarnation of the Word — a miracle of mercy. 

11. Quanto minor em se fecit Deus in humilitate, tanto se major em 
exhibuit in bonitate: et quanto pro me vilior, tanto mihi carior (Serm. I, 
12, in cantica). 



582 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Behold what the reading of the Fathers may become to us, if it be 
the right kind of reading; but if you merely direct them in keeping with 
the spectacles of your hypothesis, then they are surely not to be blamed 
for this. 

Second attempt: important passages translated. 

On affliction, i. The Creator addresses three questions to us in 
order to find out how great our patience may be in adversity; how great 
our obedience in commandments; how great our humility in the revela- 
tion of some things and the concealment of others. (Greg. M.) 

2. Builders first dress the stones before they put them in position, 
so that when placed upon each other they may need no more ham- 
mering. Thus does the heavenly Father act with His living stones: 
He polishes them through affliction, so that He may use them at once as 
building stones in His heavenly City. (Chrysologus.) 

3. The reapers do not place the grains of wheat into the wheat-bin 
of the Lord before having first thrashed out the wheat. Thus God 
acts with His wheat; He suffers it to be first cleansed on the threshing- 
floor of the world, before receiving it into His barn (the same). 

On envy. 4. Envy, among all passions, is at the same time the 
most unjust and the most just: the most unjust, because it persecutes 
in a hateful manner all that is good in others and all justice; the most 
just, because it is the executioner of its own malice. (Augustin.) 

5. Through envy the fall of man and the murder of Christ were 
accomplished — per invidiam procuratus est lapsus mundi et mors Christi 
(the same). 

6. As love makes man a son of God, so envy makes him the son of 
Satan (the same). 

7. Envy is the most extreme counterpart of God, for the latter is so 
good that He draws good from evil, but the former is so evil that it 
draws evil from good (the same). 

On the Holy Ghost. 8. That a soul dwells within the body is 
proven by the life of the body; that the Holy Ghost dwells within the 
soul is proven by the spiritual life of the soul. The former is revealed 
by the motion of the body, this by love and humility and all the other 
virtues (Bernard). 

9. Therefore, the Holy Ghost was manifested to us in the form of 
fire and of a dove, because all those whom He fills He makes effective in 
the simplicity of the dove and the zeal of fire, full of quiet mildness 
toward persons and full of restless zeal for the good (Greg. M.). 

On penance. 10. If you only will do penance when you can sin no 
longer, then sins will abandon you, and not you sin (Augustin). 

11. Not to be able to make mistakes belongs solely to God, to 
correct mistakes is the part of the wise (Ambrose). 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 583 



12. The warmer the penitential tears the nearer you approach the 
sight of truth. By the baptism of tears a stained conscience must be 
born again in order to be able to look at the light of inner goodness 
(Greg. M.). 

13. If we fail by imposing a too small penance, then it is better to 
render an account to God for mercy than for severity. If the father of 
a family is generous then the housekeeper should not be stingy, and if 
God is merciful why should His priest be severe? (Chrysostom.) If 
such wealth of gold may be found with the Fathers, how painful for a 
lover of truth to find that the one values them lightly, and the other only 
brings the worse of them into the market? (Sailer, I. c.) 

CHAPTER IV 

THE DECISIONS OF THE HOLY SEE AND 
OF COUNCILS 

1. The decisions of the Holy See and councils, as directions of 
the regula fidei, of the living infallible authority and its direct guid- 
ing significance for the Catholic sermon, we have already con- 
sidered more fully in the introduction of these studies (pp. 13-27). 

2. The decisions of the Holy See and of councils as sources for 
the Catholic sermon , we have still to consider. From this source 
we may draw 

(a) more in general, for our Catholic bearing, for the strengthen- 
ing of the joy of our faith, for the promotion of a deeper under- 
standing of our times. Thus it will mean a renewal and refreshing 
for the preacher every time he peruses the Council of Trent and 
carefully reads that of the Vatican and studies the encyclicals of 
the late Popes, especially those of Pope Leo XIII. The homilist 
will thereby gather, with pen in hand, a great treasury of most 
solid thoughts and of the most noble emotions. And it is precisely 
this continued reading of these acts or a portion thereof that acts 
upon our faith, upon the spirit and the joy of faith in an uniquely 
renovating and animating manner. (Compare pp. 43, 44.) It is 
very profitable 

(b) to dwell upon some decision and decree in particular. 
This may be done 

(a) by a prolific use of positive theology', which presents to 
the homilist these decisions in the proper place and with solid 
explanations; 



584 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(/?) by a direct homiletic exegesis of such decisions. 

Thus, for instance, two sermons might be delivered on faith, as 
an exegesis of the decisions and explanation of the Councils of Trent 
and of the Vatican on faith. 

1. Sermon: What does the Church teach about faith? (What 
is faith in the eyes of the Church? Vatic. Sess. Ill, c. 3.) 

(a) Virtus supernaturalis — therefore, not merely a human 
opinion, but a work of grace from above, a virtue which God be- 
gins in us, a divine seed which we must cherish and nourish in 
order that it may grow and bring forth fruit. The Church thinks 
precisely as does the Lord Who spoke to Peter, after his glorious 
profession of faith at Caesarea Philippi: Blessed art thou Simon, 
son of Jonas. Flesh and blood have not revealed this to thee, but 
my Father Who is in heaven: Aspirante et adjuvante gratia, says 
the council. 

(b) Qua a Deo revelata vera esse credimus. By faith we cling 
to all the divine revelations, to ail that God has said, as unflinch- 
ingly true and certain. I maintain, f.i., as unflinchingly true and 
absolutely certain, that Jesus Himself is personally present in con- 
secration, etc. 

(c) Non propter intrinsecam rerum veritatem naturali rationis 
lumine perspectam. Much of our faith pleases us, animates us, 
enchants us. But not, therefore, do I accept the doctrines of faith, 
not because I perceive them, not because I can see through them 
fully, fully understand them, not because they please me. I 
deny no article of faith because, perchance, I do not comprehend it, 
because it does not appeal to me. Not I am the measure of my 
faith. 

(d) Sed propter auctoritatem ipsius Dei revelantis, qui nec falli 
nec fallere potest. What really moves us to faith? God alone. 
God is truth. God cannot lie. No one can deceive God. God 
can never deceive nor be deceived. Why do I believe in the Blessed 
Sacrament of the Altar? Because Christ has proposed to us, at 
Capharnaum, the doctrine of the sacrament of the altar, because 
the Holy Ghost commanded John the Evangelist to place this 
doctrine into the sixth chapter of his Gospel, because Jesus insti- 
tuted this sacrament at the Last Supper. And why do we believe 
Jesus? Present, by a rapid concentration of a small concrete series 
of miracles, taken from the school of the Apostles in the Gospel, a 
striking and very short proof of the divinity of Christ, in order to 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 585 



put the declaration : the Son of God speaks, eternal truth speaks — 
very strongly and triumphantly before the hearers, and convince 
them completely that God alone, the eternal and the first truth, 
moves us to faith. Why, f.i., do we believe in the Immaculate 
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary? The Church teaches it 
most solemnly. But why do we believe? Because back of the 
Church is God. The Holy Ghost guides her. He has made her 
the rule, the guide of our faith. Jesus the Son of God has made 
it impossible for her to teach us aught that is false. Therefore, 
when the Church proposes anything for our faith, why do we be- 
lieve? On account of God, in view of God, for the sake of the Son 
of God, Christ Jesus, the eternal and the first truth, Who speaks to 
us through the Church (see p. 248 sqq.). 

Expatiate somewhat more upon these thoughts, establish them 
dogmatically and apologetically, and then finally compress all into 
the decisions of the Vatican Council, Sess. III. c. 3, the particular 
important parts of which have just been explained. Such defi- 
nitions of councils are immensely adapted to create clear religious 
ideas. Besides, an opportunity is given hereby to prove very con- 
vincingly that the council thinks precisely as did Jesus Himself. 
Furthermore, such sermons afford a natural occasion to put the 
authority of the Church, by concrete examples, into its full light. 

2. Sermon: What does the Church think of the necessity of 
faith? (Trid. Sess. 6, c. 8.) 

(a) Fides est humanae salutis initium. (A picture of a journey: 
faith — the first step — without faith all human acts are : grandes 
passus extra viam, Augustin.) Show that Christ thinks precisely as 
the Church does (classical passages of the Gospel, f.i., of the con- 
versation of Nicodemus). Or show that the Apostles and the 
primitive Church also thought thus, f.i., Hebr., c. n. 

(b) Fundamentum justifications (a picture of a foundation and 
of a house) . The Church says : No story of right living in the eyes 
of God, of genuine inner supernatural justification, can be built 
without faith. What, above all, does the Church require, over and 
over again, most especially? Faith — "have faith" — canst thou 
believe, etc. ? Show this by means of an entirely concrete series of 
scenes taken from the Gospel. What, therefore, does the Church 
say, what answer does the Church give, to the principle of the chil- 
dren of the world: It matters little about faith, if only you live 
honestly? (Compare Segur's Confidential Answers.) The declara- 



5 86 



KOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



tion of the Council of Trent might also be illustrated by the dec- 
laration of the Lord : He who believeth not is already condemned. 
Christ is the foundation. He who believeth not is already sepa- 
rated from Christ, is outside of Christ, without a basis, without a 
foundation : he must sink into hell when he dies, etc. 

(c) Radix omnis justificationis. (Image of the root and the 
tree.) Explain emphatically that a branch may die, and the tree 
may produce new branches. Lightning might strike the crown — 
but the tree might survive. But if the root dies, then the tree is 
lost forever. Apply this to faith. 

(a) The just man is a tree planted near running waters. (Ps. I., 

(0) Without the root of faith we can never prosper. We may 
apparently produce great things. But in the eyes of God we are 
barren and cursed, as was the fig tree of Holy Week. 

(y) From the root of faith arises true Christian virtue : justus ex 
fide vivit. 

(aa) Principles of faith which control us. 

(bb) Acts of faith, acts that proceed from iaith (biblical ex- 
amples). 

(S) Aye, from the root of faith arises conversion if man has 
fallen into an inglorious misery, into mortal sin (the habitus fidei will 
remain in the believing sinner as a principle of conversion). 

In a final concentration show once more the indispensable 
necessity of faith, the inestimable value of the beginning, the foun- 
dation, the root. 

When during the Passion of Christ everything seemed to De 
lost, the Saviour prayed that at least the faith of Peter fail not, 
though the profession of faith should suffer shipwreck. 

And as in the whole Church so does Jesus likewise desire to 
preserve this beginning, this foundation and this root, in every indi- 
vidual soul at every cost. 

This text of the council might also be splendidly combined, in a 
striking and a practical manner, with the tremendously serious 
words of Jesus against unbelief. (See Epiphany, p. 230, Holy 
Saturday, p. 401.) Many texts of councils and ex cathedra deci- 
sions might be treated in like manner. 

Excursus. The pastoral significance of recent councils and of 
authoritative decisions and directions. The grand ecclesiastical council 
convoked by Pius IX has spoken emphatically for our times, for our 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 587 



infirmities and for our needs. The council had not only its signifi- 
cance for the days of the so-called "Kulturkampf," but especially also 
for our more restful times and for the days of certain developments, 
reforms, and transitions. Germs of life lie dormant in the acts of the 
council which we must awaken into practical work. The council de- 
termined the infinite range and full meaning of the ideas on : God, Christ, 
the Church, faith, the life of faith of modern times. It has placed the great 
facts of religion, the life of Jesus, and the establishment of the Church, 
with all their weight before the modern spirit. It has shown the world 
that no counterfeiting may be attempted with these words and ideas; 1 
that, therefore, modern science must reckon with these conceptions, 
with the clear principle of religion, recognized by the bright light of truth, 
and with the incontrovertible facts of revelation. Religion cannot hide 
itself in the nebulous depths of sentiment and therein entrench itself, 
as in an unapproachable distance, against every objection of modern 
science, as a tendency of modern protestantism claims. (See p. 42, 
note 1.) The Vatican council has declared that religion has an answer 
for every question on the part of science, that the Church of today is able to 
encompass ancient faith and modern science, real progress and modern 
work under one grand divine and worldly conception, and into one grand 
lifework for individuals and for nations. And for all this, in spite of the 
great commotion of spirits, the council placed one thing into the fore- 
ground: the clear and emphatic idea of the Church with all her require- 
ments, down to the authoritative infallibility of the Pope. And thereby 
the council awakened also an animation in favor of the sovereign free 
daughter of God, the Church. The storm that arose during the solemn 
proclamation of the dogma of the authoritative infallibility of the Pope, 
in matters of faith and of morals, was a figure of a mighty intellectual 
thunderstorm. The times and the world of that day, silent through a 
haughty disdain of all religious affairs, were suddenly filled and occupied 
with religious questions, in a mighty busy manner, in all ranks. The 
general interest of the world in the affairs of the council was proof of the 
incisive significance of religious questions by mankind in general. But 
in the midst of this intellectual commotion the ecclesiastical council 
taught the world, in peaceful majesty and in the consciousness of its 
possession of truth, that the Church is a divine power which, even today, 
in the twentieth century, lives and reigns in the world. God still 
speaks in a positive manner, clearly, interferingly, and incisively, and not 
merely in some sort of a general and enfeebled manner, through His 

1 Compare f.i., Harnack: Essence of Christianity, who attempts a Christianiza- 
tion of the unbelieving modern view of the world, but at the expense of the Christian 
essence, by retaining the Christian termini which are conceived as purely natural 
and essentially transformed. 



588 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Church, through the papal teaching authority. God did not merely speak 
so and so many years ago, no, today, for our days, in our very century 
does He speak. And created reason is entirely and completely subject 
to this divine truth. This was the main task of the council. It showed 
the modern world that Christianity, the Bible, and the Church are not 
merely interesting, valuable, and human works, inviting the selection 
and digging up of various constantly rising degrees of culture, but fully 
and completely a divine work, though among men and with and for men. 
From the great principal doctrine the council draws its far-reaching 
conclusions. Here upon this fruitful soil the preachers must stand with 
their whole souls. Here, within the Church, reigns the ever-present 
God. Upon this soil must the Catholic sowing be arranged and 
labor performed; upon this soil will our harvest mature. If we do 
not possess this spirit, if we perceive everything in a mere human 
and too earthly manner, then the rich blessing of a harvest will be 
wanting. 

One heritage we modern preachers must consider, above all, sacred: 
the clear idea of the Church, the warm enthusiasm for the Church, and 
the solid, definite ecclesiastical principles. Never should we mar these 
principles in public life, in the press, in literature, in private and in 
community life, nor dilute nor enfeeble them; otherwise we shall dimin- 
ish the main thing: the care of souls. 

The unfettered progress of the age has made new pastoral works 
necessary. New conditions must be met, attended to, worked for. 
But the Vatican Council is precisely the fostering soil of this development. 
The' effects of the Vatican Council have been called by the enemies of 
the Church — a stream of lava. This must first be scattered, then new 
life will bloom upon its yawning shell. This is entirely false! The 
Vatican Council was a stream of life. This is evidenced by the flourish- 
ing of Catholic life, of theology and of science, of Catholic pastoral 
activity and of the work of the laity since 1870. But this Nile of life 
must be directed onto the fields of labor; there is also a spiritual irriga- 
tion system. Therefore we would direct the modern practical preacher 
to the leading thoughts of the Vatican Council and, at the same time, to 
the needs of the age. 

The second point we would like to recall to memory are the encyc- 
licals of the Popes, especially of Leo XIII. The latter are, as it were, 
a continuation of the Vatican Council. We might possibly praise these 
encyclicals too much, and study their details too little. In them we 
find a whole world of practical inspirations for the preacher. Here we 
see that it is not our affair to create a new middle age, or to screw back, 
in an artificial manner, modern progress into some past age. It is 
rather our duty to grasp our own times in their good parts and to oppose, 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 589 



in a courageous manner, their errors and prejudices; in a word: it is 
our duty to Christianize the age. The encyclicals of the Popes are 
lighthouses for the modern pastoral office, lighthouses for private and 
social progress in the spirit of Christianity. The Pope is not satisfied 
to establish mere general principles. He enters into the full human 
life. He leads the road which Catholic labor must follow, in the spirit 
of pastoral care. Study from this standpoint, f.i., the encyclical: Rerum 
novarum. How astonishing it is to receive here, from the highest teacher 
of Christendom, great directions, from the difficult question of just 
wages down to the organization and division of labor in the several 
social societies. It is said that the preparatory work for the encyclical 
was simultaneously divided between men of speculative science and of 
the most extensive practical experience, the two very prominent men of 
the Church — one an Italian who pursued, in a speculative manner, the 
principles of Christianity to their ultimate consequences, and made a 
special study of St. Thomas — and the other, a prince of the Church in 
England, who moved in the very midst of social practical activity, and 
that both had arrived, independently of each other, at the same con- 
clusions and results. This would be proof of the unity of Catholic 
theory and practice in the spirit of the care of souls, of the complete 
conception of the entire welfare of humanity. But, be this as it may, 
this is certain, the encyclicals of Leo XIII show us how the religion of 
Christ and its principles enable and induce us to labor happily for 
the entire private and social welfare of humanity, down to the least 
detail — in a word : to establish the welfare of the whole man and 
of the whole Christian. We here recall once more the words of Leo 
XIII, in the encyclical on the Rosary, of 1895, which contains within 
itself an entire program of modern pastoration: "We find, alas! a 
widely spread prejudice in the world. It is thought that the idea 
of the eternal home destroys the love for the terrestrial home, and 
therefore is dangerous to the State. There is, in fact, no more 
despicable and groundless assertion than this. It does not he in 
the essence and nature of the eternal good to engross the human 
spirit so exclusively for itself that it should become completely and 
fully disengaged from a rational care of the earthly life. . . . God is 
the author of nature and of grace. He does not desire the one to impede 
the other; He wills not a conflict of the sword between the two. The 
earthly and the heavenly should embrace in a covenant of friendship; 
nature and grace should be our guides." This is correct language for 
the modern world. The true spirit of the care of souls has an open eye 
and an active hand for all the needs of the entire man in the kingdom 
of nature and of the supernatural. 

In such manner do the teachings and the directions of the Holy 



5QO HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

Father show the preacher the ways for the Christianization of our 
modern times. (Compare also p. 104 sqq., and p. 120 sqq.) 

CHAPTER V 

SCIENTIFIC THEOLOGY 

In our homiletic studies we have repeatedly spoken of the 
prominent significance of scientific theology for the preaching 
activity, under very different view-points. In treating of the dif- 
ferent kinds of sermons we will go back again to the narrower rela- 
tions of the several scientific disciplines, to the various species of 
sermons. It will therefore suffice here to give a superficial col- 
lection of view-points under which the significance of the scientific 
theology ought be conceived as a source of sermons. 

1. Theology as a source and a guide for a practical selection of 
themes. We have treated very extensively of the relations between 
science and a practical sermon, in an article on the practical selec- 
tion of a subject (pp. 52-56, point I), and we have cited a series of 
methodical plans. In the homiletic treatise of the ecclesiastical 
year, we have also used every opportunity to emphasize the guid- 
ing and animating position of theology, under entirely concrete 
view-points. From a very large series of examples we recall only 
that of Christmas, Epiphany, Passion Sunday, Holy Saturday, 
Easter and the Sundays after Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, 
etc. 

2. Theology as a source of practical elaboration of a sermon. 
Here the theological science of homiletics renders the greatest 
service : 

(a) By a penetration and explanation of the ideas, 

(b) By offering solid and theological and exegetically explained 
material of proofs, 

(c) By new general view-points of a theoretic and practical 
kind. 

(d) By the stimulation of solid and profuse and varied sketch- 
ings and of general conceptions. 

Compare herewith the explanation of the fourth book on the 
means of sacred eloquence and also the paragraphs on the Lenten 
sermons, the sermon for Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost. 

3. Scientific theology as an interpreter of Holy Scripture and 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



liturgy. The proofs hereof we have given long ago, in general and 
in detail, in the third book on Holy Scripture as a source and the 
use of this source (p. 90 sqq.), and also in the extended treatment 
of the entire ecclesiastical year. Very extensive practical examples 
are given, among others, in the paragraphs on Christmas, Epiphany 
{Excursus I, II), Passion Sunday, Holy Saturday, Easter and the 
feast of the Sacred Heart, but especially in § 31, on Lenten Ser- 
mons (p. 303). 

4. Scientific theology as a source of popularity. Solid scien- 
tific truth is the first requisite of popular lucidity. The sermon is, 
in a certain sense, the popularization of theology. (See particulars 
above, p. 79, n. 1. A peculiarly clear and deep understanding of 
theology creates popularity, also pp. 52-57, on science and the prac- 
tical selection of subjects.) 

CHAPTER VI 
ASCETIC LITERATURE 

The sermon is essentially a direction of souls. (See pp. 28-32). 
It is therefore a great mistake in sermons not to enter into particu- 
lars of the ascetic life. Thus, f.i., an extensive instruction is abso- 
lutely necessary on prayer, on temptation, on the conflict against the 
predominant fault, on suffering and the carrying of the cross, on the 
various practical exercises of virtue, f.i., on perfect contrition, on 
characteristic faults, and improvement of character. In our ex- 
tensive homiletic development of the ecclesiastical year, we have 
devoted to this point, in a closer and wider connection with the 
liturgy, a far-reaching and practical attention and we show, by 
methodical suggestions and practical examples, how the preacher 
should be solicitous for the creation and propagation of the real 
ascetic life of the Christian. Since we refer to the entire third and 
fourth books on Holy Scripture and liturgy, but, concerning the 
ascetic patristic writings, to the corresponding chapter on the 
Fathers of the Church, therefore we will here confine ourselves to 
a few short methodic suggestions on the homiletic use of ascetic 
liturgy, in a more limited sense. 

(a) The preacher should become familiar with the old ascetics, 
above all, penetrate into the Imitatio Christi, become familiar with 
the Exercises of St. Ignatius, with the rule of the Benedictines, 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



with De Ponte, Rodriguez, Scupoli, Scaramelli, St. Francis de Sales 
(Philothea and Theotimus), etc. These works combine solid science 
with deep piety and knowledge of souls. The ascetic writings of 
Cyprian, Augustin, and Chrysostom, are to be highly recommended. 
But ascetic writings must be carefully weighed. Too much reading 
is useless. Great wealth is also contained in the II, II, of St. 
Thomas. 

(b) Among the more recent ascetics choose solid works, which 
combine science and piety in relation to modern times, f.i., Schee- 
ben-Nierenberg (on Grace); Von Lehn-Brucker (The way to in- 
terior peace, Providence, direction of souls) ; Meschler (immensely 
solid, temperate, and original); Gihr (Sacrifice and Sacraments); 
Pesch (The religious life, the philosophy of life, Christ in the life 
of the world); P. Weiss (Vollkommenheit, V. B. der Apol., die 
Kunst zuleben, Lebensweisheit in der Tasche); the writings of 
P. Doss, Hattler, Wetzel, etc. (Compare also the ascetic library 
of Herder.) Very rich material is found in many excellent French 
lives of the saints of more recent times, also in several recent 
German authors. In the selection and homiletic use of ascetic 
works care should be taken against un theological, gushing, senti- 
mental, and rigoristic writings, such as are found in our times in 
French literature of a certain tendency — and likewise against dry 
and stereotyped representations, which smother all warmth and 
unction into mere academic dust. 

A whole compendium of ascetics and a genuine school for the 
preacher are contained in the Exercises of St. Ignatius. We recom- 
mend a thorough study of the original and of the notes by P. Root- 
haus. (See also the German edition, Regensburg, Manz, 1855, an d 
an English edition by Pustet.) For this reason we connect here- 
with a short plan of these spiritual exercises. Only then do we 
obtain a knowledge of the full spirit and extent of the Exercises if 
we penetrate the methodical train of thoughts and the whole gist 
of the original. 

The plan of the Exercises of St. Ignatius. 

At a time when the catchword " reformation " moved the minds of 
men, Ignatius of Loyola wrote over a little, insignificant book the much 
used words: " De reformatione." This booklet grew into a large moral 
work, into an incomparable moral doctrine: these are the Exercises of 
the saint, an introduction and methodic system of spiritual exercises 
for the renovation of the inner man. In connection with this apparently 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



insignificant booklet, innumerable exercises, missions, instructions on 
life and on the various states of life are given to this very day. Seldom 
did the energetic declaration of the Apostle: " Brethren, the time to 
rise from sleep is at hand ... let us lay aside the works of darkness . . . 
and put on the Lord Jesus Christ," produce greater fruit than precisely 
through these exercises. What Ignatius wrote and delivered is a method 
and collection of matter, which is animating and should be developed 
variously in narrower or wider settings, according to the times and 
conditions. The Ignatian plan, however, which is the basis of the whole, 
is such a uniquely developed system of the entire Catholic moral and 
ascetic teaching that we shall incorporate an extensive sketch of the 
same into these Studies. In a so-called " foundation" Ignatius places 
man alone before his God, before his last end. He permits everything 
to act upon man that is contained in the great comprehensive word and 
notion of creation. A whole framework of iron logic leads man to the 
one convincing conclusion: God is my end. To praise, to honor God 
as the true God, to serve Him, as a matter of duty, through unswerving 
fidelity and thus to save the soul — this is the first, the proximate, the 
personal, aye, the one necessary task. A sacred awe of the fear of 
God passes through the soul of man during these serious hours of quiet 
meditation: fear God, and keep His commandments — this is all man! 
This wisdom of the Preacher, 1 of the Old Testament creates indeed 
the whole man, forms the whole character. And with this clear light 
man looks, in the spirit of these exercises, out into the ever-changing 
world, into the framework of his labors, into the waves and the breakers 
of his vocation. Why all this? Why all these riches, this poverty, 
health, sickness, labor, and position? All, all this is the way to the end, 
and must be measured by the end, by the law of God, which extends 
from the atom to the cherub. In quantum, tantum: as far as a thing is a 
way to the end or may be such, either as a duty or a vocation or a task 
of a position in life, as far as anything man may accomplish, conceive, 
or use, be it a noble enjoyment or an abandoning pleasure, provided it 
does not contradict the dignity of the Christian. But whatever interferes 
with his way to eternal destiny he must abandon, he must reject, though 
it be as dear to him as the apple of his eye : if therefore thine eye scandal- 
ize thee, pluck it out! Therefore, man should receive all things from the 
hand of God with perfect equanimity. God leads all things to the end. 
Such is the language of the " foundation." This is putting morality 
and human dignity, human intelligence, and human sentiment into the 
full and sharp light of the thought of God. Then the exercises show 
to the thinking man within this pure light of God, the essence of sin 
considered from all sides, which is apostasy from God, flight from the 
1 Eccles. 12, 13, 14; see p. 126. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



path of sunlight that leads to the end. Man now learns to comprehend 
the better what the Saviour taught us to pray when He said: Deliver 
us from evil! Now the curtain of judgment is raised. The terrors of 
death fall upon us. The gate of hell is opened: we stand horrified at 
the catastrophe that follows, when the lightning train of this life becomes 
derailed on the very precipice of eternity. With a mighty power, more 
penetrating than a two-edged sword, does the frightful alternative flash 
through marrow and bone, deep into the soul. Is your track prepared 
on which the proud, the joyful lightning train of your life rushes along? 
Is the bridge constructed over which it must pass? More and more 
vividly and seriously does man, torn away from the thoughtlessness of 
everyday life, by the sound logic of his noble reason, into which faith 
shines so beneficently, perceive what sin is. And immersed in the race 
of these eternal truths the grievous sins appear first, but also the lesser 
defects of character, the venial sins, appear in their true shape and form. 
All this operates seriously, very seriously, but in a peaceful, intelligent 
manner and without any disturbing anxiety upon human nature and its 
holy rule — conscience. Nothing remains mere empty theory : all 
turns inflexibly upon the personal ego. Examination of conscience, 
honest and sincere examination of conscience, in general and in particular, 
becomes now the work of these hours, of these days of exercises. Besides, 
preparation for confession, a confession of a certain period of life, follows. 
Man is now placed in the limelight of morality. And, pray, could 
this possibly be "an extinguishing of the conscience of truth/ ' as a 
protestant objection against the moral teaching of the Jesuits asserts? 
Nowhere does truth reign more honorably and unbiasedly than in such 
hours and in the transactions which follow with a kind, serious, and 
highly cultured confessor in the sacrament of penance. This is the first 
step of the exercises. 

Yet, all at once, after man has expressed himself on all the gloomy 
seriousnesses of the eternal truths, then the cry arises: Accedite ad. eum et 
illuminamini: approach ye Him, and be enlightened! The image of 
Christ dominates the following meditation. He stands before us, He, 
the only supreme, and only good, the Saviour of majesty and of meek- 
ness. We first contemplate Him as the King of His kingdom, 1 ready 
for the victorious battle. As a General He marches in the front, certain 
of victory. But He shares for and with us, in this terrestrial life, all 
leadership from the manger to Calvary. Should not we be also suffi- 
ciently noble in mind to pledge Him our oath and our fidelity? We 
offer Him the sacred resolutions of the "first week," 2 ourselves entirely 
and all our obligations. But, does not the heart burn and beat to give 

1 Meditation on the kingdom of Christ. 

2 Thus the first meditation on eternal truths is called. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 595 

Him more, to follow Him whithersoever He may lead? Beyond the letter, 
according to His spirit — this is now the watchword. Not only should we 
comply magnanimously with our duty and bear all that is gloomy and 
hard, aye, we should labor and suffer with resignation and animation for 
Jesus, though He lead us upon the way of the cross! With joy and per- 
severing animation we should enter into the very footsteps of Christ Him- 
self. Then the exercises unfold the whole life of Christ, or, at least, some 
of the enrapturing and powerful pictures of His life: the example, words, 
law, virtue, and the character of Jesus loom before us. But we chisel labori- 
ously, but joyfully, His very image into the marble of our souls — we 
paint His features into our personal ego. The exercises now penetrate 
into the very inner part of our conscience, down into the very chambers 
of our feelings. The Saviour passes through our various avocations and 
everyday life: dividing, destroying, building up, and planting. Next, 
the meditation on "the two standards" introduces again the "alterna- 
tive" before the soul, but in a higher form. We will here recount their 
fundamental ideas. Behold how many, even at an immense sacrifice 
of the world, serve their own ego and Satan himself, the very king of 
tyrants. And ought not the battle-flag of the victory of Christ animate 
us to greater sacrifices for Christ? Will you now follow the Lord, in a 
spirit of noble sacrifice, possibly with great self-abnegation, and advance 
with Him to the front of the line of battle, be it on the way of evangelical 
counsel: Sell all thou hast. . . . Follow Me; or, in the midst of the 
labors of an excellent vocation, by combining with the exercises of 
outward duties a deeper intensification, an increased imitation of 
Christ. And again, the life of Jesus passes before the soul in new appli- 
cations to the inner and outer activity of man and to his shifting scenes : 
pertransivit bene] "aciendo . It is accommodated to all stations and condi- 
tions of life. Then, in this splendid light of the Saviour, a new demand 
for zeal is made to the thoughtful and loving man, in the meditation on 
"the three classes of men." Through confession, and the sacrifice of the 
mass, and through the holy exercises of the day, thou hast obtained 
grace and love abundantly and superabundantly. Christ Jesus came 
to bring fire upon earth and: "What do I wish," He says, "but that it 
burn!" What now about your will, your efforts? Will you, or will 
you not? Will you — perhaps? But courage fails to tear away the 
impediments, to bring the sacrifice, to will effectively? Perhaps you 
will, but only in a half-way and in a weak manner? Or, do you will 
entirely and unreservedly whatever God demands, above all, whatever 
He commands as a grave duty? What He does not precisely impose 
under a threatened loss of His friendship, but, to which He seriously 
obliges you? Do you, perhaps, still wish more? Do you venture to 
render all and fully whatever Christ counsels, to which He calls you by 



596 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



a noble vocation? Of this, the meditation on the three classes treats. 
And again, in a new series of meditations, the several pictures of the 
life and the sufferings of Jesus pass before the soul. The light becomes 
constantly more brilliant. Then a special meditation contains the 
decisive and unique question : Knowest thou what humility is ? Such is 
the entire mystery of the inner life — that the children of God, in spite 
of their faults and weaknesses, finally seek God alone — the children of 
the world, however, in spite of their many brilliant characteristics and 
particular virtues, merely seek — self. Art thou humble enough never 
to violate, under all circumstances, a grave commandment of God, 
never to violate a great duty? Art thou humble enough to sacrifice for 
God venial sin, above all, the premeditated malicious commission of 
lesser faults, even though, through weakness, you make some mistakes? 
Do you, perhaps, desire more? There is still a road beyond this: to 
follow the poor, despised, and suffering Saviour Himself, and not only 
to follow, but to love this very way. The way of the cross is indeed a 
duty. But to seek it, to love it, to tarry upon it most lovingly : this is 
the course of heroes and of saints — here reigns not mere duty, but 
a higher sacred counsel. He who can, let him grasp it! And again 
the exercises present a meditation on the Saviour: we now contemplate 
the royal road of the cross and of His love, from the Last Supper to Cal- 
vary. Who can resist the love of Christ? And finally, the spectrum 
of the Risen Saviour flashes, in bright flames, before the enraptured soul: 
the heart burns whilst He speaks to His own. Whither does all this 
tend? All these ways of duty and of counsel? Only toward one thing: 
toward love. Ignatius concludes his splendid book with a meditation 
on love. This is significant. There is nothing higher in Catholic 
morality than love. The sacred, supernatural, and constant love of God 
and of man is the principal commandment, the principal virtue, the 
queen and the mother of all virtues, the imperishable conqueror in time 
and in eternity. 1 

Even perfection, the possibly most limited and the best relation of 
the creature to his destiny, to God, is essentially love: for nothing unites 
more closely and more intimately to God than love. Even the evangel- 
ical counsels, the state of perfection, with all its sacred principles and 
rules, is not perfection itself : all these are merely splendid ways, pointed 
out by Christ Himself, toward higher degrees of love. They destroy 
the barriers of the world opposed to love. Detached from the illicit and 
even noble and lawful and tender bonds of the world, man, in a state of 
perfection, strives, according to his vocation, freely and fully after the 
love of God: he wishes to live for God alone. Even all self-denial, all 
asceticism of the saints flows solely from the love of God and of neighbor 
1 Compare the classical thirteenth chapter of I Cor. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 597 



and desires to lead solely to the love which is animated for God and for 
souls, to the love which pleads and atones for itself and for others in this 
valley of tears. Without this love, ascetism would be but a self-torture : 
"If I were to deliver my body to be burnt, but had not charity, it would 
profit me nothing." 1 

Thus all spiritual exercises, the entire ascetics and all morality ends 
in love. With the Lord in our hearts, through Holy Communion and by 
a union of life, we come forth from the exercises: and their gain is: 
persevering love of Christ. These are the fundamental thoughts of the 
exercises. To instil love for the Saviour is the object of Catholic 
ascetiscism — and for this does Catholic morality strive in the world. 
When Christ, shortly before His ascent to His Father, appeared to His 
own on the banks of the lake of Genesareth, to accomplish the last grand 
act for His Church, when His whole, rich life of the past lay open, and 
the future hailed the great future of His Church, then He put to Peter, 
the future Pope, thrice this one great question: " Simon, lovest thou 
me? " The whole life of Jesus, His gigantic work, the sources and the 
resources of His supernatural activity, which He gave to the world are 
mere love, and they ask the one question, — Lovest thou me? 

1 1 Cor. 13: 2 sqq. The asceticism of the saints of the Catholic Church has often 
been a subject of contradiction. An asceticism that purposely destroys the body is 
against the morality of human dignity, irrational, and sinful. But such is not found 
among the saints. An asceticism which, impelled by an all-powerful love, consumes 
man through prayer and labor, through atonement and zeal for souls, through a dis- 
interested service of neighbor, is good, aye, may rise to a degree of heroism, though, 
in the end, the physical forces may succumb : this is a sacrifice consumed by the flames 
of love. Of course, there are saints who have accused themselves on their dying 
bed that they had done too much in external mortification. Even in the life of 
sanctity there is a singular human one-sidedness. Free from all such defects is 
Christ, the God-man, of whom every saint is but a ray. Even asceticism must be 
measured by the noble dignity of man, which bears the dignity of Christ, and by 
love. Thus there are in the fives of the saints some things that should be imitated 
and cannot be imitated too much. There are things to be admired. But there are 
also manifestations which are not to be admired, certain one-sided peculiarities of 
saintly zeal. In all their flight from the world and their asceticism, however, the 
saints are not merely splendid branches of the vine Christ Jesus, but they also be- 
come the true reformers of the world, the great men of culture, eminently capable 
in all vocations and positions. Though not of this world, they have placed them- 
selves in secular, scientific, and cultural fields, ahead of those who have made the 
world their sole and solitary aim. History is full of proofs hereof. All this is accom- 
plished by the great artisan and queen — love, which sees in everything "some- 
thing of God," sees everywhere God Himself and labors for God, that love which 
penetrates human dignity and the dignity of Christ and takes up into itself all that 
is noble in humanity. Compare Ps. 1. See Meschler's Life of Jesus Christ and the 
Saints, II, p. 529, The Gift of Pentecost, p. 373 sqq., and especially in this regard, the 
highly interesting and so little known and used V. vol. of P. Weiss' Apologie: Die 
Vollkommenheit, f.i., pp. 49, 105, 602, 465, 468, 466, 245, 678, 685, 680, 698, 708 (I ed.). 



598 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



"Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee," said Peter. And then 
Jesus committed to him the lambs and the sheep: the government of 
the Church and the direction of souls. 1 

The just developed thoughts contain also a refutation of Harnack, 
who recently attempted to represent asceticism as something foreign to 
the Gospel. (See Schell, Christus, pp. 61-66.) 

CHAPTER VII 
THE LITERATURE FOR SERMONS 

The literature for preaching is of great importance: exempla 
trahunt. 

Nevertheless it is rather overestimated than underestimated — 
at a cost of the most fruitful labor among the first and direct sources 
of preaching. 

The literature for preaching is really not a direct but a deriva- 
tive source. Therefore, it is not the first source of material. But 
it can become the way, the school, the richest stimulation con- 
sidered from all sides to the preacher. It becomes especially fruit- 
ful if the preacher has learned to draw independently from the first 
sources. 

We have already spoken of the model sermons of the Fathers. 
Here we will only make several suggestions in regard to the later 
and most recent literature for preaching. 

1. The preacher should become, in a manner, familiar with the 
classical literature for sermons: yet this work should be done without 
any precipitation. An interesting view of all the literature for 
sermons, of all countries, is given by Schleiniger's collection of 
examples, which gives advice of great advantage to the incipient 
preacher. 

2. Select one or the other preacher, who appeals to your own 
individuality, in a measure, as a source and type, but not for slavish 
imitation. Do not merely study his work for a direct preparation of a 
sermon, but rather for a general training and further development. 

3. Young preachers are advised to study, side by side, 

(a) a preacher with high ideals and deeply penetrating thoughts, 
in order to be elevated and refreshed by him, f.i., Bossuet, Ravi- 
gnan, Foerster, Eberhard, P. Roll, P. Agostino de Montefeltre; 2 

1 John 21 : 16, 17. 

2 Cardinal Newman, Bishop Headley, among our modern English authors. 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 599 



(b) a preacher of very simple and solid thoughts and plain 
diction, who offers the daily bread of religion, f.i., such as Schmitt, 
Sonntagspredigten, Sailer's Sonntagspredigten, Foerster's Homilien, 
Wermelskirchen, Hunolt, Tschuppik (old) Graser (old), and espe- 
cially good catechetical preachers — also, in certain parts, Massillon, 
Monsabre, Bourdaloue; 

(c) a real popular speaker, in the narrow sense, f.i., Berthold 
of Regensburg (of the middle age), Alban Stolz, some of the ser- 
mons of P. Roh, of Ah, P. Abel (see also the admonitions on p. 
80, sqq.). 

4. We will add a very short characterization of several re- 
nowned preachers, which, however, does not claim any completeness. 

Bossuet is the great ideal dogmatic and pragmatic interpreter of 
Holy Scripture and of St. Augustin, the preacher of eternal truths, a 
complete and thoroughly original creative power. But precisely this 
creative power was only awakened by the constant study of Holy Scrip- 
ture and of the Fathers, especially of St. Augustin. His exposition flows 
from the first source, as it were. According to his contemporary Neuville, 
he is the only master of the exalted, of the powerful, and of the pathetic. 
On the brink of the grave Neuville longed to have the school of this 
exalted master entirely resuscitated. He adds this interesting remark: 
"I had wished to fall into the same carelessness of style which is insep- 
arable from the animation and impetuous soaring of a genius." Bossuet 
is most powerful in the striking and luminous expositions of truth, which 
prepares the will for an amelioration. Reason, borne and illumined by 
faith, he supports by a grand and active power of imagination. In him 
reason, illumined by faith and borne on the pinions of an exalted imagi- 
nation, celebrates its oratorical and pastoral victory. The brilliant 
lustre of Christian intelligence, which shines forth from Bossuet's ora- 
tions, is transillumined by glowing fiery sparks of great and holy emo- 
tions, which, however, cool off very quickly in order not to detract from 
that victorious train of proofs and facts presented. Bossuet is not so 
great in the second and really most important task of the homilist, which 
is: to move directly to a real practical amelioration of life. " Herein 
he does not equal, by far, a Chrysostom, a Bourdaloue, or our own Ger- 
man Hunolt" (says Schleiniger, das Kirchliche Predigtamt, 3 ed., p. 165). 
This defect may possibly have shown itself more in his written than in 
his oral expositions. The most of the sermons of Bossuet — with few 
exceptions and apart from his funeral orations, which are worked out 
to the smallest details — are rapidly and unequally planned concepts 
and steps upon which the orator himself ascended, no doubt, by an 



6oo HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



extensive preparation and meditation, which sufficed for him, but do 
not indicate to us the type of his greatness. For an exhaustive study, 
the orations on the unity of the Church, the sermons on the birth, the 
circumcision, and the Kingdom of Christ, the sermon on Good Friday, 
the grand funeral orations on the death of Marie Henriette, the queen 
of Great Britain, Henriette Anna, the duchess of Orleans, and of the 
Prince of Conde, are well adapted. 

Bourdaloue is the great moral preacher and really the preacher of 
Christian supernatural morals ; also a master of logic, almost without a 
peer; an organizer of speech that always designs new and original 
dispositions for the same subject: but he is above all the apostolic 
preacher, ever zealous for souls, whose victory is borne by deeply con- 
ceived, direct, and sacred objective thoughts. For thirty and four years 
he succeeded in captivating the attention of his hearers in the one and 
the same city. His sketches are eminently rich and veritable gold mines 
of homiletics for all future generations. True, our times are less devoted 
to rhetorical breadth and development and speech. Our age carries 
lighter, linguistically more simple, yet more shining weapons. But an 
exhaustive study of Bourdaloue always bears rich fruit. From a great 
number of first class sermons we shall mention only the four orations 
on the Passion of Christ, especially on the: Praedicare Jesum Christum 
Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam, the first and the second Easter sermon, 
the sermon on the conception of the Blessed Virgin, the sermon on ambi- 
tion, on rash judgment, on temptations, on providence, on the Christian 
religion. 

Massillon is the preacher of emotions and of pathos, an excellent 
moral-ascetic interpreter of the Holy Scripture, an apologist of moral 
law, though not free from great exaggerations. In regard to style he is 
a consummate master. 

Fenelon is an excellent homilist (see his dialogues). As an orator he 
is a model of the conversational style, of a happy syncretism of candor, 
of grace, of greatness, with an exuberance and felicity. He, too, came 
forth, in a prominent manner, from the school of Holy Scripture. We 
possess only two completely elaborated orations of Fenelon, which 
he delivered at the consecration of the elector of Cologne, and on 
Epiphany of 1685, on the occasion of the departure of missionaries for 
Siam. 

Segneri is the practical pastoral preacher, excelling in psychological 
arrangement of proofs and also in practical exegesis of passages of Holy 
Scriptures and of the Fathers — and all this in a language of burning zeal 
for souls; though his specific Italianism and peculiarities of the seven- 
teenth century, used on all occasions, are to be guarded against and 
avoided. This is also true of his narratives. Compare also the book 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 601 



composed jointly with Pinamonte on "The Christian instructed in his 
law," a transposition of the sermons of Segneri based on the Summa of 
St. Thomas. The subjects are very practically treated. 

Hunolt, Tschupik, Neumayr, especially the two former, are con- 
sidered, even today, stimulating preachers of the eighteenth century, 
containing much practical material and of a highly moral force. 

Graser, whose works have been repeatedly published, is original and 
practical, especially in the disposition, in the exegesis of Holy Scripture 
and its application. 

Bishop Sailer is an eminently classical preacher. He excels in 
simplicity, in clearness, and in depth of feeling. He is especially an 
eminent popular interpreter of Holy Scripture. Occasionally he remains 
the child of his age, for which he reconstructed the bridge from the 
shifting sands of rationalism to the perfect ecclesiastical consciousness. 
Especially readable are his sermons on Christ, on the first mass, and his 
homilies. Original masterpieces are, f.i., the sermon on St. Augustin, 
on St. Norbert, on the veneration of the saints. 

Foerster is an excellent homilist (see Sonntagshomilien) and a model 
apologist (compare, f.i., the Easter sermon on Immortality and many 
of his sermons on the times) . Here and there the language is somewhat 
sluggish. 

Colmar is a type of penetration and rhetorical force. 

Bishop von Ketteler excels in binding brevity and the force of his 
apologetics, and is also a splendid model for social themes. 

Bishop Eberhard is the eminent practical exegete, especially also of 
the Old Testament, an excellent dogmatic-festive preacher on the great 
mysteries of Holy Religion — now and then somewhat sublime. 
His sermons are a rich source of exalted, original, and practical 
thoughts. 

Bishop Ehrler presents prominent and practical types of Sunday 
sermons. 

P. Lierheimer has given us stimulating Lenten sermons, especially 
on the Passion of Christ. He is likewise a solid preacher of morals. 
Now and then his form is somewhat heavy; the transitions are too 
academic. 

Breiteneicher presents original treatment of the Old Testament, 
which is, however, according to the position of present science, to be 
somewhat supplemented by practical applications of the New. He 
also manifests an interesting and stimulating treatment of sacramental 
doctrines. 

Wermelskirchen is a good catechetical preacher. 
P. Roh and P. Abel, S. J., are original, forceful, and eminently practi- 
cal and popular preachers. P. Roh is a dogmatic-apologetic popular 



6o2 HOMILETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



preacher of the higher style. P. Abel is the principal catechetical 
preacher for the great masses of people : but there is noticeable in this 
man, so zealous for souls, a certain Viennese mannerism, which should 
not be slavishly imitated. The shorthand reports often give the proofs 
too sparingly. 

Of the more recent French orators we will mention the following: 
De Boulogne, who posseses a swing and nobility of eloquence, yet 

often too little simplicity (Schleiniger, I, c, p. 172). 

Maccarthy shows grand and striking particular characteristics of 

eloquence. 

Lacordaire is full of life, originality, and nobility, a preacher of 
grand and wide Christian viewpoints, a physician of modern times, 
full of holy zeal for souls, touching the widest circles. Natural, proofs 
predominate excessively. 1 

Ravignan is solid, rich in emotion, less energetic. 

Pere Felix excels in logic, thoroughness, and candor, though his style 
is at times far-fetched. 

Dupanloup's homiletic occasional sermons are grand fundamental 
manifestations, especially in relation to educational questions. 

Cardinal Pie has become famous through his excellent pas- 
torals. 

Monsabre is an excellent dogmatic and catechetic exponent of an 
elevated style and a popular interpreter of St. Thomas before cultured 
audiences. 

Among the more recent Italians, Father Agostino da Montefeltre 
is very renowned. His sermons (in German by P. D rammer and P. Ph. 
Seelbeck) combine rich and deep emotions with dialectic-apologetic 
dexterity; generally planned concentrations often lead to real heights 
of eloquence. The argumentation is not always free from objections. 
Unfortunately — at least in the stenographic reports — the solid homi- 
letic scriptural exegesis is much neglected. 2 

1 Compare also the first and the second period of his activity. On the dividing 
line you will find the grand: Discours sur la vocation de la nation francaise. 

2 The innumerable manifestations of more recent literature we cannot notice 
here any further. Very interesting and in many respects directive criticism of 
sermons of more recent and modern appearances are given by several annual reviews 
in the Litterarischen Rundschau f. d. kath. Deutschland, written by the former 
Professor and present Bishop Dr. Paul von Keppler, f. i., on Dippel. Prattes, Ohler, 
Schneider, Heffner, Wermelskirchen, Tappehorn, Deppe, Schork, Dr. Klasen, Hans- 
jacob, Kohout, S. Schuster, Fuessl, Kolb, Atzberger, Kolberg, Hecher, L. Rost, 
Schmitz, P. O. Rothmann, Patiss, Diessel, Berens, Ibach, Costa, Didon, Perger, 
etc. Litter. Runs. 1890, nr. 1. 2; 1891, nr. 1, 2, 3; 1893, nr. 1, 2; 1893, nr. 1, 2, 3, 
4, 12; 1894, nr. 5, 6; 1895, nr - Hj 12; 1896, nr. 3, 10. (Compare also Helmcken, 
Handbuch der in Deutschland erschienenen Predigtlitteratur, Koeln, Boissere, 
1865 and 1878.) 



THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 603 



Supplement — Sources from elsewhere 

In addition we should like to mention the following sources, very 
often useful for the preacher: 

1. Works that are a medium between the really scientific and, in 
the full sense, popular representations, f.i., the Handbook of Religion by 
Willmer. 

2. A biblical, verbal, and encyclopedic concordance. 

3. Theological and fully up to date lexica, f.i., Herder's Kirchen- 
lexikon, 2 ed. 

4. A self-gathered cornu copiae, i.e., a practically arranged collection 
of eminently fruitful reading, of personal ideas, meditations, and lumina 
alphabetically arranged : 

5. Especially harmony on the Gospels, f.i., of Lohmann, 1 and works 
on the life of Jesus (cf . : Principal themes of sermons) . 

6. Finally, we should also like to recommend ancient and modern 
collections of solid material and sketches, homiletic scriptural and dog- 
matic commentaries, homiletic corollaries, f.i., Hurter's addition to his 
Dogma, the highly commendable work on preaching by Scherer: 
Library for the preacher, etc. 

1 Consult also "A Harmonized Exposition of the Four Gospels," by the Rev. 
Dr. Breen, one of the most useful works in the English language for this purpose, 
(note of the translator). 



TSook IV 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 

FTER having considered the essence and the basis of 
sacred eloquence and grasped its supreme laws and 
studied its sources very extensively, the question arises : 
by what means are these sources, corresponding to 
the essence of sacred eloquence and to human nature itself, 
made accessible to the Christian people in the various sermons? 
We have already practically answered, from the various view- 
points, this question in our rather exhaustive theoretic and 
practical consideration of the sources, especially in that of Holy 
Scripture and of liturgy. The homile tic-liturgical treatment of 
the ecclesiastical year, especially, was, in a certain sense, a rich 
development of the means by which the religion of Christ Jesus is 
drawn from the purest sources: ut vitam habeant et abundantius 
habeant. 

There still remains the enumeration of the specific rhetorical 
means under a general view-point and the consideration of them in 
the light of the direction of souls by means of speech. 

All these means must serve, in a manner, the aim of the sermon, 
the awakening, fostering, and perfecting of the practical supernatural 
life, and, in order to lead to this end, must correspond to the pecu- 
liarity of the humanum compositum. 

We have considered the peculiarity of human nature under the 
concept of the union of mind and body. We have fully valued the 
influence of the compositum directly on the principles of eloquence 
as a psychological basis of homiletics. We again wish to recall 
here the principles there developed (B. I., § 3, p. 41 sqq.) 

The means of sacred eloquence here to be considered can only 
then be scientifically justified when they are established precisely 
on these principles. But their practical application must also be 

604 




THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



605 



guided by that psychological tact which is only gained through 
a deep comprehension of human nature. 

All these means must naturally be brought by the preacher into 
the service of the supernatural, in the spirit of faith and of love. 
(See p. 45 sqq.) 

We will mention the following ways and means corresponding 
to the psychological conception of human nature : 

1 . Ways and means to clear religious conceptions. 

2. Ways and means to sure, irrefragable religious judgments. 

3. Ways and means to mighty and fruitful religious emotions 
and activity of feeling, resolutions of the will, conversions, and 
amendments of character. 

We will here only consider that which is most necessary, and we 
refer again to the psychological foundation (p. 41 sqq.) and to the 
numerous proofs given in the third book on the source of sacred 
eloquence. 

Article I 

Ways and means to attain clear religious conceptions 

Indistinct and hazy religious conceptions are causes of innum- 
erable prejudices and misconceptions and occasions for most dan- 
gerous temptations and seductions. Therefore, it is one of the most 
important duties of the preacher to give the people a clear concep- 
tion of their holy religion. The Christian cannot penetrate^ mys- 
teries, but he must have a sharp and a clear conception of the same. 
So, too, is a clear perception of moral ideas of most extraordinary 
importance. For this purpose there are at the disposition of the 
preacher purely intellectual and sensitive-intellectual means of illus- 
trations. 

§ 1. Purely Intellectual Means 

Such are those already mentioned: a constant study of Holy 
Scripture, a deeper penetration into the whole of theology, and 
especially a sharp and loving perception of ideas; above all, of 
ecclesiastical and theological definitions — exact preparation and 
untiring exercises in popular explanations and in the well-ordered 
and rhetorical analysis of religious ideas, fundamental thoughts, and 
of termini and their fulness and parts, etc. 

We have already considered these extensively in the second 
chapter of the second book of these homiletic studies, in the para- 



606 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



graphs on popular sermons (consult p. 80, n. 1 sqq.), and especially 
on the popularization of ideas (p. 88 sqq. n. 5: 2). 

The treatise of Book III. on Holy Scripture, as a means of 
improving our conceptions (B. III. I. A. art. § 7, p. 145) and the 
popularizing of texts (B. III. L, A. II. art., § 6, p. 161 sqq.), furnishes 
a new contribution to the consideration of the ways and means of 
clear religious conceptions. The means, nearest at hand, to obtain 
clear religious ideas and to communicate them to others are : 

(a) Good dogmatic and moral text-books. 

(b) The acts of the Councils of Trent and of the Vatican. 

(c) The encyclicals of the later Popes, especially of Leo XIII. 

(d) Well-written religious text-books in the vernacular. 

(e) Solid and striking refutations of modern claptrap (consult 
the writings of Segur, Nilkes, S. J., Schutz- und Trutzwaffen; illumi- 
nation of anti-religious claptrap by P. G. Freund, handbook of 
popular answers, by P. Franco, etc.). But all this is to be con- 
trolled by technical literature. 

(/) Personal penetration and elaboration of religious ideas, 
especially also, 

(g) Conscientious preparation and an elaboration of an exegesis, 
which has a great indirect influence on the clearness of the ideas of 
a sermon. 



But he who seriously considers the task of enlightening the 
people through solid, deep, and clear religious ideas — will also 
make use, natura duce, of the sensible means of illustration (con- 
sult pp. 35, 36). 

The example of the greatest of all preachers, of the God-Man, 
Christ Jesus, corresponds to the impulse of nature. A short, theo- 
retic-practical consideration of these means of preaching is not in 
the least superfluous, since its homiletic value exercises also a benef- 
icent influence on practical activity, especially so if here also we 
attend, above all, the school of our Saviour. 

§ 2. The Sensible Means of Illustration ln General 

1. The supreme principle: Omnis cognitio incipit a sensibus. 
From the peculiarity of human nature, composed of mind and 
body, as a rational, sensible being, possessing sensible, rational 
faculties and activities (consult p. 34 sqq.), follows the principle 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 607 



of philsosphy, of pedagogics, and homiletics: omnis cognitio incipit 
a sensibus. From this generally accepted psychological principle 
follow immediately two other principles of cognition. 

2. Two other theoretic principles of cognition concerning ra- 
tional-sensible cognition. The action of a free effort always pre- 
supposes an action of a higher cognition in man : nihil volitum, nisi 
praecognitum. This higher power of cognition itself, however, 
depends in the human composition upon sensible cognition and is 
directed by it. The principle: omnis cognitio incipit a senibus 
may, therefore, be divided into two theoretic principles of cognition : 

(a) The purely intellectual substances we conceive, funda- 
mentally considered, only indirectly by means of such things of 
the visible world which bear towards them a causal or analogical 
or a contradictory relation. 

(b) The higher power of cognition requires for its activity 
generally a simultaneous or, at least, a somewhat antecedent cor- 
responding activity of the power of cognition: therefore, of a pre- 
sentation through the senses. 

From these laws follow: 

3. Two sequels for homiletics: 

(a) the best way to attain, in any way, a cognition of the purely 
intellectual is through manifestations in the domain of direct 
cognition, which stand with the object in question in a causal, 
contrary, or analogical relation. No one will reasonably deny that 
we can be easily engaged, and very easily, with purely intellectual 
notions. But everything intellectual enters into us, in some way, 
through some sensible impulse and mediation. Therefore 

(b) The perfection of the intellectual cognition stands generally 
in the same relation to the clearness and perfection of its necessary 
antecedent or simultaneous presentation to the senses. 

From the above two deductions follow again a general and a 
special practical precept for the announcement of the word of God : 

4. A general practical-homiletic precept. In announcing the 
word of God, manifestations belonging to human life and visible 
nature should be utilized as much as possible, in order that thereby 
the supersensitive, aye, the very supernatural, may attain color 
and life, flesh and blood, as it were, and all act upon the whole man. 
The preacher should especially consider the nature of the lower 
power of cognition and lead up to that preceding, concomitant, 
or subsequent activity in his hearers, which is apt to facilitate the 



608 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



intellectual conception and to make the same perfect, clear, and 
luminous. 

Through the just mentioned general view-point we obtain : 

5. Special homiletic directions. 

(a) Negative directions: Abstract expressions, colorless and 
emaciated termini, and worn-out phrases, which are become stereo- 
typed, are to be avoided as much as possible and according to the 
degree of the culture of the hearers, because, thereby, the nature 
of the lower cognition is little considered, and therefore the sound- 
ing word passes away colorless and lifeless. 

(b) Positive directions: A whole series of elements and means 
of representations are to be explained, which illustrate abstract 
ideas in a happy manner. In the following paragraphs we shall 
emphasize the most important ones. 

§ 3. The Sensible Means of Illustration in Particular 

1. Similitudes, analogies, and images. These means of illus- 
tration are absolutely necessary ways to attain the end: their 
application is, in fact, a demand of the sensible-intellectual nature 
of man. The possibility and the fruitfulness of the applications 
of precisely these means of speech: similitudes, images, analogies, 
parables, etc., have their deepest foundation in the fact that the 
visible and the invisible world have the same inhnite and perfect 
Spirit for their author and are the expressions of the idea of a crea- 
tor. The visible world is the reflected image of the invisible, of the 
intellectual, and even of the supernatural : Invisibilia ipsius a crea- 
tura mundi, per ea, quae facta sunt, intellecta, conspiciuntur: sempi- 
terna quoque ejus virtus et divinitas, Rom. 1 : 20. (Consult our 
thoughts on pp. 104, 105.) The preacher ought take a formal course 
in this language of religious images. We do not here mean any 
pedantic method, but certain well-planned studies in a free setting. 

(a) Holy Scripture — a school of the language of religious images. 
Nowhere in all literature do we find such an immense wealth of 
images, which convey within themselves their rhetorical features 
proper to religious speech, as we do in Holy Scripture. Compare 
especially the Prophets and the Gospels. Appropriate, concrete, 
dignified, natural and suited to the circle of hearers, and practically 
beautiful images of the supernatural we find especially in the ad- 
dresses of our Blessed Saviour. Never does Christ use entirely 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 609 



general or any worn-out expressions. He always speaks in a man- 
ner which opens the eyes, as it were, by pictures, in order that the 
soul be enabled to look deeper. Thus, f.i., in Luke 12: 24, 27, He 
selects the raven and the lilies in order to awaken confidence in 
God's providence; in Matt. 13: 31 the mustard seed, to depict the 
interior divine power and the exterior growth of the Church; Matt. 
23: 23, the taxation of mint and anise and cummin to show the 
hypocrisy of the pharisees. Often concrete points of importance 
are taken from nature and natural life, often sketches from reality 
of popular life, which Christ uses as images. Even the interior con- 
ditions of the soul are depicted in a mere concrete manner, thus, f.i., 
He calls pain of a high degree — lamentation and gnashing of teeth. 
The images of the Saviour should be made 

(a) Pleasant and familiar by frequent meditation on Holy 
Scripture, 

(/?) Should often be selected for our own speech and especially 
also 

(y) Exegetically and practically explained. 

The preacher should, however, remember the simplicity and the 
inexhaustible depth connected therewith contained in the parable 
of the vine and the grapes, by which the marvelous union with 
Christ in grace and in the life of grace is painted for us. This one 
image affords enough matter for an entire sermon for the clarifica- 
tion of the idea of life in sanctifying grace. In relation herewith 
consult the remarks on the images of Holy Scripture, p. 88 e., and 
on the impressions of these ideas and words, p. 86 sqq., n. d., also 
PP. 73, 83-90. 

(b) Nature — a school of religious figurative language. The 
wide-awake experienced look into nature — and, let us here add, 
into the life of the people, especially into the surrounding life of the 
present — opens up a whole world of images, analogies, compari- 
sons, and parables. 

A thousand objects offer themselves to the thoughtful observer 
of nature and of human life, which may become bearers of the 
images of exalted thoughts. And it is modern progress and ex- 
plorations precisely which enrich herein our imagination. Care, 
however, should be taken to imitate, in all simplicity, the depth, 
the ideality, and the poesy of Holy Scripture, so that the sublime 
and the exalted be not degraded to the common and the insignifi- 
cant through gloomy, undignified, and trivial images. But the image 



6io HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



which is an exalted and pure means of eloquence should never be 
made the end, instead of the means. It should be at once aban- 
doned as soon as its high aim is attained. To trifle with images is 
repulsive and pernicious. 

We will here emphasize a special kind of more extensive figures — 
the parables. 

2. The parables. A. Their essence and their aim. The word 
TrapafioXij, parabola, parable is derived from 7ra/)a/3aA\a> — to throw 
aside, to place together or opposite each other, to place alongside of 
each other, to compare. The word, however, received through Holy 
Scripture a unique meaning. It occurs in the Old Testament of 
the LXX about forty-seven times, and parabola in the Vulgate 
about thirty- three times. Parabola is a translation of the Hebrew 
mashal. The Greek New Testament has the expression napafioXij 
forty-eight times in the three synoptic Gospels and twice in the 
letter to the Hebrews. In several passages of Luke the word 
similitudo occurs for parabola. In John the word is not found. 
Instead thereof he quotes four times Trapoipaa-proverbium (f.i., 
John 10 : 6; 16: 25, etc.). 

For a deeper conception of parable, according to the spirit of 
Holy Scripture, we are indebted to Matt. 13: 34 sqq. : Haec omnia 
locutus est Jesus in parabolis ad turbas et sine parabolis non loque- 
batur eis, ut impleretur, quod dictum est per prophetam dicentem: 
aperiam in parabolis os meum, eructabo abscondita a constitutione 
mundi. These words are taken from the Psalm 77:2 (78), as cited 
by the Septuaginta: avoi^oi ev TTapafiokais to crro/xa pov, <j)9ey£opai 
irpo^k-qpara air ap^s. The Hebrew text reads: "I will open my 
mouth in a series of sayings (mashal) and I will utter the riddles 
of ancient times." The parable is, therefore, a unique and inde- 
pendent biblical form of speech, in which the mysteries of the de- 
signs of the world, the divine problems, and the supernatural truths 
are revealed in a unique manner to the disciples and the people. 

The Gospel, however, gives further important points ior the 
correct concept of the wisdom of parables. 1 

It was at a turning point in the life of Jesus, not long after the 
raising of the young man of Nairn from the dead and shortly after 
the scene of the sinner in the house of the pharisee (Luke 7: 36-56), 
that Jesus changed the manner and sort of His intercourse with the 

1 Consult the very important book for preachers by L. Fonck, S.J., Die Parablen 
des Herrn in Evangelium. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



611 



people, in a striking manner — as a consequence of the growing 
unbelief of the leaders and of the masses. 

He withdrew Himself more and more from the masses, and 
devoted Himself more closely to the Apostolic college. Not that 
He despised any activity in behalf of the masses, but it became 
more and more an exception. He kept the people in unrest and 
expectation: He did not permit their consciences to sleep in in- 
difference. Still, His general doctrinal addresses were far less 
frequent. Like flashing lightning they flared up in mysterious 
darkness, and they acted in a singularly vivifying or punishing 
manner according to the preparation and direction of grace upon 
the individuals. But, as a punishment for the unbelief of the leaders 
and of the masses did the light of the grace of Christ, in general, 
withdraw itself more and more, and it fled, carefully planned, into 
a most narrow circle, which later was to assume the mission of 
the world. And even this conduct on the part of Jesus was a grace. 
The responsibility of the wavering masses was not to be unneces- 
sarily augmented by an increase of light. The decisions and con- 
versions were rather to be facilitated after the death on the cross 
and the resurrection of Christ. For these pedagogic purposes 
precisely was the parable of the Gospel created. It gave the truth 
in a veiled manner: it concealed the light and the menace. This 
singular form created a great incitement to thought, to sacred 
investigation, and to the humble and the honest searchers after 
truth grace was by no means wanting. The parables were easily 
and deeply impressed upon the memory. Even though often little 
and but half understood, they sank like seeds of a coming spring 
into the soul, In the hearts of many who were honest these seeds 
grew up when the days of Easter and Pentecost brought the ful- 
ness of light, and urged for a definite, final decision. It was, there- 
fore, that Jesus still announced several parables from the just 
mentioned critical period of His life, and a few series of parables 
before all the people. The Messianic declarations, however, He 
kept mostly hidden from the masses: He unfolded them only in 
the narrow circle of the Apostles. This remarkable change of 
the method of teaching struck the Apostles very vividly, especially 
at the announcement of the parable of the sower. But Jesus did 
not fail to enlighten them expressly therein. He had just pro- 
nounced the parable of the sower to the people. Now He adds 
these significant words : He who has ears to hear, let him hear — 



6i2 HOMILETIC AXD CATECHETIC STUDIES 



then He interrupts the speech suddenly, at a moment when those 
who were listening are very attentive and anxious to know what 
He means by this puzzling speech, by the mysterious sower, and 
He dismisses the people. 1 The unsatisfied suspense of the people 
and the compassion for the multitude as well as individual interest 
urged the disciples, as soon as they were alone, to ask: What does 
this parable mean, and why does Jesus address the people in par- 
ables? Jesus gives them a significant answer, which the three 
synoptic writers, each in his unique style, have delivered to us. 
(Matt. 13: 10-13, and 13, 14; Mark 4: 10-12; Luke 8: 9.) '''Be- 
cause to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven: but to them it is not given. For he that hath, to him 
shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from 
him shall be taken away that also which he hath. Therefore do 
I speak to them in parables, because, 2 seeing they see not, and hear- 
ing they hear not, neither do they understand. And the prophecy 
of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: By hearing you shall hear, 
and shall not understand: and seeing you -shall see, but you shall 
not perceive. For the heart of this people is grown gross, and 
with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they 
have shut, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and 
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and be con- 
verted, and I should heal them." (Matt., c. 1; Isa. 6:9.) Israel 
possessed great wealth — treasures of grace, so that other nations 
might envy it. But to this possession, to this wealth, corresponded 
necessarily also a compliance, a moral-supernatural gain and prog- 
ress. Only then can there be question of religious possession. 
Precisely this the masses failed to show in consequence of their 
unbelief , which is a result of their false guidance and also their own 

1 Consult Grimm, Leben Jesu, III. B., p. 244 sqq. 

2 Luke does not here give, like Matthew, "on" " on" — ,f because." but directly 
" tva" the " that." "in order that," of intention. Therefore, the unbelief of the masses 
lies precisely in the plan of God as a positively intended punishment for the guilty 
conduct of Israel. Therefore precisely should they remain in their unbelief and thus 
serve the Messianic purposes. This is probably the verbal, the original concept, 
which Matthew expresses for his Jewish readers — of course, entirely within the 
domain of truth. This sharp concept of Luke does not, however, intend to repel or 
exclude a single one who is of an honest will and ready to return to the Messiah. 
For the Saviour Himself says that amongst those who were intended by His frightful 
rebuke, some would be converted and mightily influenced by grace, they would see 
Him again in order to cry* out to Him: Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini I Aye, 
the Jewish people, as such, will be converted in the latter days. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 613 



fault. Therefore Jesus withdraws Himself from them. "That 
which they have," election and prior right, is taken from them 
and given to others who co-operate with grace: then, a fulness 
and abundance of grace and progress will follow. Of all that 
which so far had occurred in the presence of the masses, a world 
of miracles and revelations, they who were intellectually and 
supernaturally blind failed to profit. Therefore the Messiah with- 
draws Himself more and more: only mysterious sparks of the 
light of the parables flare up — a sufficient point of contact for 
them who wish to return, and punishment for all who positively 
refuse to be healed. The unexplained parables signify, therefore, 
in the mouth of the Saviour, also a concealment of truth to those 
who are not of good- will. They contained a judgment of condemna- 
tion of the chosen people, directly foretold by the prophets. Only 
a small portion enters fully and completely into the Messianic 
plans and problems of God. This the disciples as Israelites no 
doubt discovered in those moments, very vividly and painfully 
in thought and in feeling. To them (and to all, who now and 
later will gather around the circle of the disciples), as to Israel's 
holy portion, does the Messiah turn in solemn and almost jubilant 
pathos, when, in the same strain of speech, He continues: "But 
blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because 
they hear. For, Amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men 
have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, 
and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them. 
Hear you therefore the parable of the sower." (Matt. 13: 18-23.) 
And then follows the deep-meaning explanation of the parable in 
the circle of the Apostles. (Matt. 13: 18-24.) The extraordinarily 
strong emphasis of the meaning of the parables, for concealment, 
withdrawal, and punishment, and also for a shaking up, a stimu- 
lation, for the refusal of rest, for the unveiling and the development 
of the deepest divine Messianic mysteries and problems, shows us 
also the grand homiletic significance of the parables. And it is 
not in vain that the Church so often, during the course of the 
ecclesiastical year, proposes the parables as an invitation to 
preachers to unfold them homiletically, fully, and entirely to 
the people, and therefore even to penetrate into their depth. 
There is a unique blessing in this evangelical wisdom of the 
parables. Therefore have we here devoted such an extensive 
attention to the parables of the Gospel, and repeatedly dwelt 



614 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



upon their entire eminent homiletic significance in the treatment 
of the ecclesiastical year. 

We have still to consider one side of the wisdom of the parables. 
The parables of the Gospel are, in their entirety, a constantly pro- 
gressive school of a deeper understanding and of a clearer concep- 
tion of Jesus and of His religion. Thus the parable is a means to 
the end, a way to the goal. Therefore the parable disappears from 
time to time in the school of the Apostles: then again Jesus leads 
His own, openly, to the real heights of the spirit and joy of faith, 
and of a certain penetration into the mysteries of faith: " These 
things I have spoken to you in proverbs. The hour cometh when 
I shall no more speak to you in proverbs, but will shew you plainly 
of the Father." (John 16: 25.) Thus did Jesus speak in His 
farewell address. And when, immediately thereafter, He spoke 
openly and without any reserve of His going home to the Father, 
the Apostles answered: "Behold, now thou speakest no proverb." 
(John 16: 29.) After His resurrection these open speeches began 
in the fullest sense, and still more so in the days of Pentecost, 
when the Holy Ghost had been sent to lead the Apostles into all 
truths. 

After all these examinations we may thus conceive the defini- 
tion of the parable of Holy Scripture: Parables, in the sense of 
Holy Scripture, are mighty stimulants to faith and to thought, and 
are mysterious illustrations of supernatural and divine plans, 
problems, directions, truths, and laws — in independent speech 
— through application and juxtaposition of a striking example — 
with the object of revealing, more deeply and more progressively, 
the respective truths to the faithful, and of stimulating the searchers 
after truth, but of concealing truths, and withdrawing them from 
the conscious unbeliever. 

If a still farther proof were needed to show how much Jesus 
had drawn the wisdom of the parables as means and a way into 
the domain of His supernatural activity of teaching — this would 
have been recently furnished by the work of the rationalistic Prot- 
estant, Dr. Ad. Juelicher, professor at Marburg, on: Die Gleich- 
nissreden Jesu (Freiburg im Breisg., 1899, II. B.). In spite of the 
great erudition of the author and of several valuable critical essays, 
the work of Dr. Juelicher is a harvest of chaff. He who begins 
by assuming a denial of the divinity of Christ and of the inspiration 
of the Bible as a scientific postulat, and treats all things from a 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 615 



subjective rationalistic limited standpoint, will also succeed in dis- 
rupting the parables of the Lord and in reconstructing them crit- 
ically and insolently and in devitalizing them religiously into mere 
fables. Thus, in spite of an erudition, though most worthy of 
acknowledgment and even of admiration, these words of Mark 
4:12: ut videntes non Meant — are fulfilled in such parable-ex- 
plainers, against whom Juelicher himself carried on such a vehement 
controversy and characterized their utterances "as an invention 
of pessimism in the evangelist." " Mark has unfolded, in the fourth 
chapter of parables, a well-considered theory, which satisfied his 
heart — indignant at the final obstinacy of Israel, and which explains 
a not being understood by a not wanting to be understood." (I. 135.) 

We recommend most urgently to preachers: Die Parabeln des 
Herrn im Evangelium und praktisch erklarrt von Leopold Fonck, 
S.J. The homilist will find in this work a solid exegesis and a 
fulness of homiletic-practical stimulation. 1 

B. Homiletic advantages and the applicability of parables. Gen- 
erally speaking, the parables of the Sundays and feast-days are 
seldom exegetically explained and applied. Occasionally the depth 
of the wisdom of the evangelical parables is too little penetrated. 
The just given explanation of the essence and of the aim of the 
parables of Jesus shows what great importance the Saviour Him- 
self attributed to His parables. Compared to this, no doubt, an 
almost fundamental neglect of the parables on part of the homilist 
would have little in common. We will, therefore, add several 
brief remarks on the homiletic advantages and the availability of 
the parables. 

(a) Bishop Sailer (Pastoraltheologie, I. B. pp. 299-369) writes 
the following very memorable words on the homiletic advantages 
of parables: 

(a) The parable makes truth more comprehensive to him who 
will and ought comprehend it, because it places it into a well- 
known vase that may be easily handled. 

{fi) The parable makes a stronger and a more durable impres- 
sion — stronger, because the sensible strikes the sensible man 

1 Compare also our explanations of the parable: Jungmann, Theorie des geistl. 
Beredsamkeit: Aehnlichkeiten und Analogien, I. B. p. 215-227; Jakob Schaefer, 
Ueber die formelle Scrioenheit der Parabeln Jesu, in Mainzer, "Katholik," LX, 
1904, II 1-19, 109-126, also the very stimulating work of P. M. Meschler, S. J., Lehr- 
und Redeweisheit des Heilandes. Laacherstimmen, XXXVI, 1889, I. 1 72-191, 
especially 183-186. Also Grimm, Leben Jesu. 



616 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



more strongly; more durable, because the remembrance of the 
parable becomes easier through the more frequent occurrence of 
similar expressions (natural phenomena and events). 

(y) The parable masters us unawares. It resembles a looking- 
glass, in which it enables men to see their defects by reflection. 

(S) The parable not only serves to elucidate and to make 
things more comprehensible, but may likewise serve as a veil of 
truth for eyes that may possibly not be able to bear the naked 
truth. 

This service of the parable is not unimportant, for many would 
be more opposed to truth through direct explanations and many 
teachers would be exposed to persecution. (Compare II Kings 
12 '. i, and Grimm, Leben Jesu, i, c.) 

Such parables are also useful because they arouse curiosity, 
foster attention, incite investigation of their sense and purpose, 
and create thus, gradually, an easier access to truth. 

(e) The parable instructs in a manner which is also adapted 
to the lowest faculties, and modifies that which is unpleasant. It 
does not punish, it knows how to dispose matters that inflict self- 
punishment. 

(£) The parable is more easily retained in the memory, and 
can gradually operate more deeply through repeated disclosures 
of that which remains concealed, if it is not entirely perceived in 
the beginning. 

Every homilist will become more and more convinced of these 
principles if he occasionally makes use of the parables of Holy 
Scripture, especially, however, the oftener he explains in a kind 
manner the parables of the Sunday Gospels after consulting good 
exegetic writers. These are really inexhaustible. 

It is, however, a fatal method to be satisfied, again and again, 
with an occasional thought, and never to enter into the substance 
of the parable. (Compare above, the VIII. Sunday after Pente- 
cost, p. 536, n. 8. How often is not a sermon preached on this 
Sunday simply on injustice — and the tertium comparationis of 
the parable of the unjust steward, year after year, completely 
overlooked?) 

We will therefore mention here several hermeneutic-homiletic 
principles on the explanation of parables. 

(b) Homiletic adaptability of the parables. Parables are, above 
all, adapted for homiletic explanations ex professo. These may 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



617 



be either exegetic or thematic. They will have to be more fre- 
quently thematically arranged. Whenever the Saviour Himself 
presents a full explanation, as in the example of the sower, a transi- 
tion may at once take place, on all the several points, to a prac- 
tical application of the several conditions and cases within a rich 
sensus accomodatus cum fundamento in re. When a deeper substance 
of truth lies more concealed — then the parable itself ought, in its 
uniqueness, be first made intelligible to the people. It is precisely 
the paradox, the unexpected turn of expression, that creates an 
interest and reflection. Thus, f.i., after a short explanation of 
the (oriental) conditions of the parable of the unjust steward, the 
difficulty, which the people also must conceive, ought be put into 
the form of a question to be answered, thus, f.i., How could the 
Saviour say in the parable: a the master praised the steward on 
account of his injustice?" — from this surprising paradox we should 
seek a point of conciliation for the people, such as : the interesting, 
though unjust prudence of the steward, of the worldling in his 
own fashion, in juxtaposition to the prudence of the children of 
God required by God in affairs of salvation. The children of God 
should exercise this prudence in their own way in a great manner, 
and especially in affairs that involve money and possessions. (See 
the VIII. Sunday after Pentecost, p. 536, n. 8.) Then practical 
applications should follow which immediately touch life, according 
to time and necessity. 

The parables which reveal mysterious plans and problems of 
providence, should be deeply examined, and they should be devel- 
oped according to the capacity of the hearers, either from the one 
side or the other — dogmatically, pragmatically, or ascetically, or 
from all sides at once. The divine plan should be especially re- 
vealed. Thus, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard reveals 
the kingdom of heaven, i.e. the kingdom of God on earth, which 
in time will pass into the full kingdom of heaven, and also, in a 
certain sense, the world and the history of the world is a great 
vineyard of God, into which God calls the laborers through a free 
and supernatural election of grace. (See p. 257, n. B.) All nations 
were called into this vineyard in the early morning of the world's 
history. Again they rejected this call (pp. 106-108). Then Israel 
received a call in preference to all others (p. 108 sqq.). And, in a 
certain sense, it bore the burden and the heat of the day — the 
law of the Old Testament. In an early hour God, the Father of 



618 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the vineyard, covenanted with Israel. He gave it grace and power 
and promised it temporal and eternal reward — the divine de- 
narius. And God is faithful. It matters little when, but how we 
have labored in the vineyard. And if then the entire pagan world 
is called at a late hour, Israel has no right to complain if its Lord 
"is also good to it," and for faithful work promises and pays the 
full eternal, supernatural denarius to the pagan world also. God 
owes supernatural grace, and the eternal glory that flows therefrom, 
to no one. But he who possesses grace — and every one receives 
supernatural grace — and co-operates therewith finally and per- 
severingly, has a real claim upon the eternal denarius, whether 
he be called early or late. If, therefore, the Jews complain because 
Jesus also calls the pagans, — if they are dissatisfied because these 
pagans are not bound to become first Jews, then they are at fault. 
" Friend, I do thee no wrong ! . . . take what is yours and go ! . . . 
I will give to these last as much as to thee. May I not do with 
my own as I will? And is thine eye evil, because I am good?" 
Aye, the majority of the Israelites called thereto will even frivo- 
lously throw away the election at the time of Christ and given 
them through Him. The Jews will reject the Redeemer. Only 
in the end of days will Israel, as a people, return to the Messiah. 
The Jews were the first-called, the pagans the last. And now the 
last become the first and the first will be the last. Many, aye, all 
of the Jews, were called. But only a few permit themselves to be 
chosen by Christ. (Compare especially Luke 13: 23-31). 

Let every people see to it that it work and labor in the vineyard 
of the Lord! Our forefathers were pagans. In so far we are "the 
last" — the last called, and yet we have become "the first." But 
in contrast to those not yet called, to the pagans and those separated 
from the Church of Christ, we are also "the first" — like the Jews 
of old. But, if we Catholics are, in this sense, the first called of 
the New Testament, it depends upon our co-operation. If we do 
not possess the riches of grace — others who now live in unbelief, 
in error, in great sin, may precede us in vocation, in selection, and 
in their own conversion, and receive before us the eternal denarius. 
Never complain if nations and classes and individual persons are 
converted late, aye, very late, but are converted and enter after a 
long and idle and prodigal life in the sight of God, finally into the 
vineyard of the Lord. We ought not complain if God be kind to 
these. But, can it possibly be a loss for us to have served God in 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



619 



the heat of the day? "Innocence which claims that it was solici- 
tous in vain about the fulfilment of the duty and the practise of 
virtue if even contrite sinners and the prodigal sons in the world's 
history find acceptance, such innocence discloses that it is nothing 
less than innocence." (Schell, Cristus, p. 70). The Lord of the 
vineyard has extraordinary ways for those who, without their own 
fault, do not find the ordinary. Even from stones He may raise 
Children of Abraham. And all receive essentially the same reward, 
the same eternal denarius. "The last shall become first, and the 
first shall become last." Many nations and people are called 
early: All is prepared for them. And yet, as a people, they fail 
to bear decisive fruit or do so very late (thus did the masses of 
Israel as a people). 

Many men were called in youth, placed in the midst of all 
graces, even selected for greater graces and tasks and vocations. 
But they trifled with all these, or followed their call late, very 
late. But still they followed fully and completely. They were 
first, and became last. Who can object if God is kind to them? 
But no one may therefore live carelessly into the day. All depends 
upon the co-operation as soon as the vocation to grace is received. 
And this is now at hand for us. No one knows whether or not 
there shall be for him an extraordinary call, a special, a mighty 
grace of conversion, stored up for later times. God is free! Many 
are called, few are chosen. The "many," in a certain sense all, 
are called to grace. Christ is the true light which illumines every 
man that cometh into the world. No pagan remains without 
grace. If he earnestly seeks after truth God will know how to 
send him an Apostle, a missionary, or illumine and strengthen 
him interiorly by love and contrition (baptism of desire). But 
few are selected for very extraordinary graces, either by extraor- 
dinary conversions or extraordinary positions in the kingdom 
of God. 

Others were "the last." They failed possibly through a want 
of religious training, of instruction, and of encouragements in the 
kingdom of God and for work in the vineyard of the Lord. But, 
nevertheless, there comes to them some time an extraordinary call 
of grace. Thus they are saved in preference to many others, they 
attain positions of election in the kingdom of the vineyard of God, 
aye, they become real saints. Therefore, all depends upon how 
we follow the call of grace. God calls when and where He wills. 



620 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



About the ways of the election of His grace and of the measure of 
the gifts we are not to quarrel nor to complain. No one is deprived 
of sufficient grace. Every one should listen to the call which comes 
to him, and utilize his rich individual and official graces in order 
to obtain, with all possible effort, the denarius, the price. It 
may therefore occur that "the first," i.e., Christians, who by birth, 
baptism, by membership in the Church, instruction, education, and 
by means of grace are preferred to millions of others become "last," 
i.e., frivolously throw away for a long, a very long, time these graces, 
and arrive very late, really too late, as co-laborers in the vineyard. 
But if they finally follow the call of grace, who will then raise an 
objection against the extraordinary means of grace and complain? 
But it also may happen that such "first" Christians, who from the 
beginning were preferred, become literally the "last" — when the 
master of the house shall have closed upon them the door and 
exclaim: I know you not. I know not whence you come. Depart 
from me, ye wicked! (Luke 13: 23-31.) Then there is no time 
to work, for the night of death and of judgment is at hand. Then- 
ar e then cast out into exterior darkness. Many are called into the 
vineyard to labor, few to extraordinary graces, positions, and con- 
versions. But many, aye, all, are called to eternal salvation. Few 
attain the final election, eternal salvation, few, at least, in com- 
parison to the immeasurable and uncountable graces of God. The 
Saviour never answers the question concerning the small number 
of the saved (Luke 13 : 23) arithmetically, but He admonishes us 
most seriously to strive to enter through the narrow gate ! there is 
question of a serious nature! God wishes all men to be saved. 
But in His distribution of Grace He is free. For this He is not to 
be held to an account. The grace and the prize offered should be 
seized upon: sic cur rite nt comprehendatis . In such a manner 
ought be conceived the points of comparison of those most exalted 
parables which reveal, in a manner, the mysteries of the divine 
plan of the world. Then, supported by good commentaries (such 
as Grimm's and Meschler's Life of Jesus, Fonck: Die Parabeln 
des Herrn, commentaries of Schanz and Polzl), the disclosed 
truths should be dogmatically, pragmatically, or ascetically pur- 
sued and a selection finally made for the sermon. The liturgy 
very often emphasizes the conception. (Compare, f.i., Septua- 
gesima and the just explained parable of the laborers in 
the vineyard, see p. 257: consider the deep-meaning exegetic- 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 621 



homiletic relation of the Epistle to the parable of the Sun- 
day. 1 ) 

But wherever, as here in the concluding sentences of the just 
explained parable, in spite of the exegesis of thousands of years, 
a mysterious vagueness lies concealed in which even the Church 
does not fully enlighten us — there the people should be induced 
to a sacred and humble adoration of the unfathomable decrees of 
God, to an immeasurable confidence in God's goodness, and to an 
unshakable resolution to make personal courageous efforts. (Com- 
pare pp. 257, 258.) 

In the more moral-ascetic parables the most important moral, 
generally simple, but deep-meaning fundamental thoughts should 
be searched out from the entire range of the parable or from the 
parallel reports of the other evangelists. If they are found without 
much ado, often a whole wealth of ulterior ways and conclusions 
and concomitant thoughts arises in a surprising manner in a 
setting of a greatly conceived unity. 

Thus, f.i., the parable of the Good Samaritan answers the 
question: Who is our neighbor? All men without exception. Be 
they ever such great strangers to us — especially in their need are 
they our neighbors, whom we should help cheerfully, according to 
our power, as a matter of duty and even beyond. The parable 
intends to awaken a deep and mighty fundamental direction of 
love of neighbor, to strengthen, to develop, and to perfect it. In 
close connection herewith the parable unfolds a unique and beau- 
tiful school for the practise of the love of neighbor. The point 
of comparison (tertium comparationis) is really the love of neighbor, 
the generous love of the Samaritan compared to our own. (Con- 
sult above, pp. 537 and 538, n. 12 on the parable.) 

The mystical sense intends to point out to us the Saviour Him- 
self as the Good Samaritan, Who visits mankind (naturally alive, 
but supernaturally dead), half -dead through sin, heals it and saves 
it, f.i., through the sacraments, with which He aids us and accom- 
panies us throughout our lives unto our very death. (See details 
above, p. 538.) 

In order to find such train of thoughts, note especially the con- 

1 All the fathers stood beneath the cloud of light. All were quasi-baptized in 
the Red Sea. All drank from the miraculous rock which prefigured Christ. . . . 
And still the majority failed to please God. God establishes the aim and gives the 
Grace. Let us run like one who obtains the prize on the race-course. (See p. 258.) 



622 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



nection of the parables with the whole text. Good exegetes will 
be found to be of excellent value in the explanation of these parables. 
We wish again to draw attention to the biblical notes of Allioli, 
Loch and Reischl, Meschler's Life of Jesus; Grimm: Leben Jesu; 
also Foerster : Homilien and, especially, to Sailer : Pastoral theologie, 
I. Bd. : Bemerkungen zu den Gleichnisreden Jesu, also to Fonck, 
S.J. : Die Parabeln des Herrn. 1 

We conclude with a proposal of questions for a homiletic fruc- 
tification of the exegesis of parables: Which are the main char- 
acteristics of parables which the Saviour Himself places in the 
foreground? Which is the main aim of the language of the Sa- 
viour? Which is the real point of comparison in the literal sense, and 
also in the mystical sense? What valuable side-issues can be placed 
into the foreground through a repeated treatment of the parables, 
especially when, in other years, the substantial point has already 
been practically explained? What oriental peculiarities, conditions, 
and circumstances are to be considered in order to discover in the 
biblical language the truth represented in its full greatness and 
sharpness? 

3. Contrasts. An idea may be eminently, practically, and popu- 
larly illustrated by antitheses : By means of an antithesis the essen- 
tial, the most important and valuable, and the most impressive part 
of an idea may be conceived with double interest and pleasure. 

Most excellent rhetorical contrasts are found: 

(a) In Holy Scripture, in the historical books, f.i., Adam's 
glory and fall, David's fall and penance, Balthasar's crime and 
punishment. The antitheses of Isaias and of Daniel are grand, 
those of the Proverbs and of the sentences of the Lord are immensely 
fruitful, especially for practical exegesis and moral sermons. (Com- 
pare, f.i., Bourdaloue.) Full of most touching antitheses is espe- 
cially the life of Jesus itself. (Compare, f.i., the antitheses which 
run through the whole life of Jesus: the sun of divinity and the 
cloud of humanity — the humiliation and the exaltation — the 
suffering and the glory; again, take some of the unique scenes, 
f.i., Jesus and Barabbas (the first full-grown Adam of sin: Barab- 
bas, and the second Adam: Christ), Jesus and Pilate, Jesus fatigued 
and Jesus all-powerful (the storm at sea). The Pauline letters 
furnish most surprising antitheses. On the power of scriptural 
antitheses, see above, pp. 83, 84; compare p. 190, III, a., etc.) 

1 Also Dr. Breen, a harmonized exposition of the four Gospels. Translator. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



623 



(b) Among the Fathers Augustin is especially rich in antitheses 
of inexhaustible depth and practical utility. 

(c) Liturgy often presents striking and readily applicable antith- 
eses. (Compare above, the ecclesiastical year.) 

{d) The comparison of Christianity and the world, of the life 
of faith and of the world, creates overpowering and fruitful antith- 
eses, f.i., the banner of Christ, the banner of Satan — the soul 
before and the soul after baptism — life in the light of carelessness 
and in the light of the candle of death. Recall to mind the great 
antithesis — Christ and Belial — the kingdom of God and of the 
world — the city of God and of the world — Jerusalem and Baby- 
lon, etc. 

Corollary, i. The world of figures, parables, antitheses, as means 
of illustration in general, in connection with personal impulse and our 
entire view of the world. The selection and election of examples, of figures 
and parables, and of means of illustration in general, and the explanations 
of the same are by no means the result of mere technical ability which 
is mechanically acquired. It is, in a certain sense, directly the result 
of unique common activity of an individual peculiarity, of the peculiarity 
of the times, of the more or less all-sidedness or one-sidedness of the 
trend of study, of a deeper or less deep penetration into Holy Scripture 
and liturgy: aye, the whole individual and uniquely impressed view 
of God and of the world by the homilist is reflected in the selection and 
the election of these means of speech. Even more, the more enduringly 
the homilist frees himself, gradually, of every one-sided control of an 
academic stereotype, which, of course, has also its great significance, 
the more he uses sermon-books and sermon-essays as fructifying means 
to the end, but not as a halter, the more appropriate and striking will 
be his figures. Holy Scripture and liturgy will also herein furnish the 
greatest supply. The more the preacher puts his whole knowledge, 
thought, and feeling into the service of the Church and of the Gospel, 
the more he is impelled to become all to all, the more he feels urged to 
approach the different wants, classes, conditions, and the Gospels, the 
more happily will he also administer these rhetorical means. We have 
nothing more to add to our former exposition of the spirit of the Scrip- 
tures and of the liturgy in this regard. 

2. A knowledge of the peculiarity of the various times, of the char- 
acter of the people, of the special natural and cultural conditions acts 
fruitfully upon a happy selection of means of speech. Hettinger writes 
as follows on this point: " There are various selections of examples, 
mainly gathered from the writings of the Fathers for the use of the 
preacher. But I cannot ascribe any great value to these many examples 



624 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



borrowed from the Latin and the Greek Fathers; often they fail to 
correspond to the views of our hearers: men of such general culture as 
Bossuet and Bourdaloue had sitting at their feet, we seldom have as 
hearers. Besides, what impresses, excites, and enthuses the Southerner, 
is often unintelligible and unpalatable to the Northerner." (Aphorisms, 
p. 212 sqq.) 

''There are also periods of taste, which we recognize especially in 
the figures of speech and in the examples which they employ. Balthasar 
Gracian was a classical Spanish writer whom even Schopenhauer admired. 
But who would borrow such figures from him as: 'The crutches of the 
age accomplish more than the cudgel of Hercules': 'Against the der- 
ricks of the soul leave the key of providence on the outside': 'A staid 
being is the facade of the soul,' etc.? Even from Vieira, Segneri, and 
from Dante himself examples of this kind might be quoted. But not 
from Bossuet. The Italian Costa therefore justly remarked that fig- 
ures of Ossian's songs may suit Scotland, but not the mild skies of 
Italy. Vergilius has this figure : 1 Classi inmittit habenas '; it would be 
ridiculous to render this in English: " to discharge the reins of the 
fleet." Dante borrows from the business of a tailor his comparisons of 
two great thoughts. For us this would be impossible. Other figures 
of the ancients are taken from mythology; they fail to affect us modern 
people, and are unintelligible to us; St. Francis de Sales has taken many 
figures from natural history, but every tyro in our colleges knows that 
they are mostly based on false conceptions." (P. 213.) 

There is likewise a certain philosophy and history of the means of 
speech. A study in this regard of the philosophy and history of meta- 
phors was written by Dr. J. Miiller: Das Bild in der Dichtung (Renais- 
sance, the year 1902). 

3. Free and cheerful activity of personal individuality conduces to 
fresh, vivid, and original formation of means of speech. Hettinger 
continues to say on this subject: "Whatever is not formed within our- 
selves, whatever has not been produced by our own efforts, is seldom 
very vivid, appropriate, or graphic. Therefore, it is better to have 
rarely one example than many that are borrowed; but this one should 
be true and not extravagant. Whoever has thoroughly penetrated Holy 
Scripture, especially the Psalms and the prophets, the addresses of the 
Lord, and the revelation of John, and has entered deeply into their grand 
and powerful figures, which, however, are not mere figures, will not be 
worried about a supply of splendid and at the same time popular figures 
and examples. 

"Moreover, the individuality of the preacher will here also be pro- 
nounced. 'Examples,' says Schopenhauer, 1 ' are of great value, because 

1 Parerga, II. p. 451. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



625 



they lead from an unknown condition to one known. But precisely 
because they are such a great lever for the acquisition of knowledge, 
therefore does the disposition of striking and, at the same time, appro- 
priate examples show great acumen.' Let us add: and also a powerful 
imagination. Therefore, only a proper equilibrium of the two faculties of 
the soul can make a happy disposition of examples. Imagination, with- 
out a keen intellect, leads to a superabundance of figures and examples, 
which confuse the hearer, fatigue the mind through the constant change 
of figures, which pass before it like a kaleidoscope and render the under- 
standing more difficult. Cicero justly compares such an orator with 
one intoxicated or insane, qui nihil potest tranquille, nihil leniter, nihil 
definite et distincte dicer e, cum non praeparatis auribus inflammare rem 
coepit. Acumen without imagination will scarcely succeed beyond an 
example or figure, which, in comparison to a real oratorical striking 
example, is like a pencil-drawing compared to a luminous fresco-painting. 

" Because both faculties of the soul are so seldom united in one man, 
therefore we have so few great orators. Therefore Cicero says: disertos 
he found many orators, eloquentem adhuc neminem; 1 for of the latter he 
demands that he know not only how to speak ' satis acute et dilucide, ' but 
also 'mirabilius et magnificentius auger e posset atque ornare, quae vellet. 1 
Aristotle 2 considers it a great thing to find a figurative expression; he 
recognizes therein a mark of a great mind. But he remarks, at the same 
time, that such a power is not learned from another. In youth we are 
more apt to use figures, and we find them easier than later; thus has 
nature arranged matters and thus ought it to be. Therefore the youth- 
ful orator should not be blamed; the luxurious growing blossoms of 
poetry will be stripped by old age, the figures of which are rarer, but 
more striking." 3 

4. The importance of the novelty, freshness, and directness of 
figures and of examples is a conditio sine qua non in the selection of the 
means of speech. As soon as one and the same figure becomes of a too 
frequent and stereotyped use, then it becomes a well-worn coin. One 
forgets that the expression was a figure: the senses no longer see it nor 
look at it when it appears. The means of illustration have completely 
lost their value: they are less attractive than an abstract expression. 
"Our most frequent fault in the application of figures and examples is, 
no doubt, this, that they are too much worn out; only that which is new 
impresses and draws attention. 'Jaded envy' has outlived itself, the 

1 De orat. I. 21, 23; qui ad explicandum ornandumque sint uberes. 

2 Poetic, c. 22. 

3 Cicero, de orat. II. 21: volo se efferat in adolescente foecunditas. Nam facilius, 
sicut in vitibus, revocantur ea, quae sese nimium profuderunt, quam, si nihil valet 
materies, nova sarmenta cidtura excitantur. Ita volo esse in adolescente, ut aliquid 
amputem. 



626 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



'tooth of time' has long ago become dull, the 'violet of humility' and 
the 'lily of chastity' have lost their blossom. Still greater is the fault 
if they be not true, not clear, not apt, or if they be foreign to the circle 
of the views of the hearers; if they be too extensive, instead of being 
painted in a few strokes, so that nothing remains for the self-activity of 
the hearers and the figures lose thereby their charm. Only then will 
the figure act mightily if it proceed perfect from the inmost soul of the 
speaker, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter, and stand at once com- 
plete before the imagination. Then it is true, apt, and clear; then, too, will 
the speaker lose no time in prolonging its ornamentation; like a flash of 
lightning in the night will it break through the clouds of abstract doctrines 
and illumine, with the light of day, the field of knowledge." (P. 215.) 

The examples taken from Holy Scripture preserve, from this point of 
view, even a unique and indestructible freshness and directness. Only 
when again and again explained, merely in a passing manner and su per- 
ficially, without any depth of exegesis, without evolving the oft surpris- 
ing point of comparison, which does not always lie on the surface, or 
again, in a far-fetched unpsychological and narrow-minded manner, do 
they also fade. "Holy Scripture contains not merely the best examples 
and parables, but its most deep-meaning doctrines are often delivered in 
examples and parables. Thus, f.i., the conversion of paganism to God 
and His great mercy in the parable of the prodigal son, the parable of 
the sower, of the rich draught of fishes, of the hidden treasure, of the 
mustard-seed, of the vineyard, of the heavenly marriage-feast, etc. 
All depends here upon the knowledge of evolving the true points of 
comparison, but by no means, as has happened so often in ancient and 
modern times, on emphasizing each separate line of the figure. This 
would not merely be exegetically unadmissible, but also homiletically 
ineffective, because untrue. Though the calf, which the father had 
killed upon the return of the prodigal son, and which awakened the envy 
of the elder son, had already been differently explained, but whether for 
real edification might well be questioned. Here, above all, must good 
taste check us in explaining all in an allegorical manner, for instance: 
the waiters, the table, the dishes, the clothes, the door, etc., of those 
who had been invited to the heavenly marriage-feast. The grandeur 
of the thoughts, the finesse of the remarks, the psychological depth of 
insight, the richness of the ideas permit us to overlook in Augustin and 
Ambrose this excess of allegorical and scriptural explanations, even in 
the explanation of historical events. But models they cannot be for us 
in this regard, as little as the later Gregory the Great, who, on this 
account, 1 was surprised himself, because his hearers did not believe his 
allegorical expositions." 

1 Horn, in Evang. XV. 1. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 627 



5. Universality. Freedom and directness of the mind create, 
finally, a last and important school for the selection of the means of 
speech. Whoever is deeply convinced of the harmony of the natural 
and supernatural through the great Catholic view of the world, whoever 
has recognized, from a consideration of the atom to the cherub, an 
eternal divine law as a ruler, preserver, and guide of all, of nature, and 
of the supernatural; whoever hails in every real result of science a word 
of and concerning God, and in every true progress of culture sees the 
fulfilment of the saying of the creator: "rule over the world and subject 
it to yourself," will have at his service a wealth of figures, analogies, and 
antitheses in order to make the intellectual and the supernatural of the 
language of his age clear to mankind and to bring it home to it. We 
will conclude with several explanations of Hettinger, which we very 
urgently recommend to the full consideration of the homilist and pastor 
of souls. 

"The middle age thoroughly recognized the significance of figures 
and of examples taken from natural life: therefore 1 physiologus ' was 
used in the earliest age; a writing originally composed in Greek, which 
contained a short description of animals, and was very much used by 
the Fathers. The significant figure of the unicorn, 1 so well-known in 
the history of art, is partly derived therefrom ; the phoenix, 2 the panther, 
etc., have their symbolism extensively described therein. Later the 
Speculum naturale of Vincent of Beauvais was a rich source for preachers, 
and also the book of Bartholomew da Gland villa: De proprietatibus 
rerum. In these the preachers found very rich material for figures and 
examples taken from natural life, combined, of course, often with rare 
and adventurous descriptions. Plinius' natural history was likewise 
very much in use at the time of the Renaissance. There existed also 
works which were compilations of material contained in these works, 
arranged according to certain view-points and presented in a very apt 
way for the use of sermons; the most important of these are the Liber 
similitudinum and the Lumen animae. Heinrich of Hessen mentions 
them in his Tractatalus de arte praedicandi (Heinrich Langenstein, d. 
1397, in Vienna), besides the concordance of the Bible and the Summa 
of St. Thomas, amongst the most necessary aids of a preacher. The 
authors of both are unknown. It is most remarkable what great number 
of works of Christian, Arabic, and Jewish writers are worked into these 
books and excerpts made therefrom, in which again old classical remi- 

1 This appears already in Justin (Dialog, c. Tryph. 318). On account of its 
timid nature it loves the greatest solitude and can only be caught by a virgin. There- 
fore it was the symbol of the Blessed Virgin. 

2 Already mentioned by Clement (Ep. and Cor. 1: 23). See Surius (Act. S. Caecil. 
22, Nov.); also by Tertullian, (Resurr. cam. a. 13). 



628 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



niscences were treasured up. Especially extensively circulated in Ger- 
many were the Lectiones super Sapientiam Salomonis of Robert Holcot 
(d. 1349). 

"The natural sciences, as is well known to every one, have taken 
quite a prominent position in modern times; they take in almost the 
whole breadth of scientific culture, to the exclusion of the humanistic 
studies. The result of their studies has made a series of works also 
accessible to ulterior circles. From A. v. Humboldt's 'Kosmos,' 
Liebig's 'Chemical Letters,' Schleiden's 'Plants,' down to the present 
day there are great selections of works at hand which describe the 
marvels of creation. The great mass of the averagely cultured hungers 
for them, and even the uneducated, as the middle age shows so well, love 
to hear nothing more than representations from natural life, in which 
the preacher depicts the symbolism of the spiritual conditions and ex- 
plains the same to the people. St. Francis de Sales, as already men- 
tioned, clothed his doctrines mostly in examples taken from nature, 
and thereby made them so attractive, viewed, of course, from the scien- 
tific standpoint of his days. If, however, we look into our more modern 
literature for sermons, we will find therein the important auxiliary means 
for the animation and illustration of our thoughts, very much neglected. 
I will not accuse any one hereof, for we are all sons of our age, we are 
under its influence, and are carried away by its current. Perhaps the 
cause of this and many other related phenomena lies more deeply. The 
middle age, deeply rooted in the foundation of Christianity, had still 
retained an undivided view of the world; like the circumference around 
the center, so did the various sciences and modes of life place themselves 
around the main and central science — theology. Everything received 
therefrom position, illumination, significance, aim, and all rays led from 
it as from their center. Therefore the joy with which theologians and 
preachers made all disciplines of human knowledge, of all manifesta- 
tions of life, in nature and spirit, serviceable to themselves for the one 
purpose of announcing and confirming, of explaining and applying, 
evangelical truth. This undivided view of the world has been shrouded 
in clouds, in consequence of the appearance of protestantism and ration- 
alism; science has raised, in many ways, an opposition between science 
and faith, theology and philosophy, and even believers, among some of 
the learned, have professed the principle: 'in heart a Christian, in mind 
an atheist.' With a real Judas-like friendship, theology was advised — 
especially was this done by Schleiermacher — to retire from all 
scientific fields, in order to stand secure upon its own ground, the 
sentiment of faith. What was the consequence? The theology which 
retired to a sulking corner was ignored and forgotten, the stream of 
life passed it by and paid no attention to it; preaching became im- 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



629 



poverished and nourished itself solely with subjective feelings and 
desolate moralization. 

"We should never forget the words of the Apostle: 'All is yours.' 
Whatever is in heaven and on earth is ours; 'but we are Christ's.' All 
should serve us; whatever the pagans spoke, says St. Ambrose, that is 
good and true, all is ours. 1 Also natural science. 2 If nature be much 
abused in our days in the service of matter, and degraded to be made the 
maid of unbelief , this is done against its proper essence, against its God- 
given destiny, which is to be a second book of revelation, next to the 
written revelation. Therefore, it is precisely our task to liberate it from 
this servitude, to read the hieroglyphics, which the ringer of God has 
written thereon, to explain its source and its language, which proclaim the 
glory of God. For this, of course, an all-embracing and extensive culture 
is necessary. This the middle ages strove to attain through the schools 
where the trivium and the quadrivium were taught. We laugh at this 
now — but unjustly. It was a great, an ideal thought, which was lying 
at the basis of its methods of culture, the ideal of the universalis™ of all 
sciences in the spirit of Christianity. Bonaventure sketched it in his 
Reductio artiumad theologiam, and Dante has glorified it in his great poetic 
composition. If we reflect, on the contrary, in what narrow circles of 
views the theological studies move in many places, then we need not be 
surprised at the great poverty of thought of so many sermons. When- 
ever theology is not in living touch with the general movements of 
science, but excludes itself therefrom in a seclusive manner, then the 
bridge is destroyed over which mutual approach and understanding 
is made possible. Then the conditions obtain in our nation which the 
prophet proclaimed: 'Two people, 0 Israel, are within your bosom.' 
Then the sermon becomes languid, and the preacher is no longer able, 
either through blustering words of threat, or through the minor 
tone of complaint, to attract those who have become strangers to 
religion. Gregory of Nazianzen and his friend Basil were not in 
Athens in vain." 

After having thus expressed ourselves rather fully on figures, 
examples, analogies, parables, and antitheses, it will suffice to 
mention briefly the rest of the means of illustration: their use is 
governed by the same principles. 

4. The effects of the invisible through the visible. There is 
here not merely question of figures of the invisible in the visible, 
but of the proper effects of the divine, supernatural, and the spiritual 
in the world of the visible and of the tangible, f.i., God known 
through visible nature (consult the letter of the Romans and the 
1 De bono mortis, c. 11. 2 See above, pp. 103, 104. 



630 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Psalms) — the visible consequences of original sin, f.i., of intem- 
perance, of pride, also the irradiation of virtue from the inner man 
to the outer, f.i., of humility in the life of Jesus and of Mary and 
of the saints. 

5. Historical sketches. They present religion or thoughts and 
requirements of religion in flesh and blood, in soul and in body. 
The Bible (see p. 161 sqq., 149 sqq.), Church history, the better 
monographs and biographies of saints, especially also modern 
well-authenticated historical sketches, are very valuable. The 
preacher should acquire several collections of examples, f.i., of 
Kellner, Schmitt, and others, but use them with great critical 
examination: omnia probate et quod bonum est tenete. He should 
gather good examples through personal reading and experience. 
Many well-adapted examples are also contained, f.i., in Wetzel's 
popular writings. 

6. Little fine sketches, which depict very admirably great 
ideas and conceptions, f.i., the licking dogs in the parable of Laz- 
arus, the drop of water on the finger-tips of Dives in the same 
parable, etc. (Application of accidentals.) 

7. Grand religious illustrations of conceptions in the life of 
Jesus. Here all religious conceptions, from the concept of God 
to the last moral requirement, are become flesh with Christ, as 
it were: verbum vitae — manibus contrectavimus. We need here 
merely recall what we considered, from all sides, in a detailed and 
extensive manner in the homiletic treatment of Holy Scripture 
and of liturgy. 

After having practically treated the ways and means of the 
explanation of religious conceptions, the question becomes impera- 
tive: how will the homilist educate his hearers to definite religious 
principles? 

Article II. Ways and Means to Solid Supernatural Judgments, 
Principles, and Views of Life 

Conceptions are not sufficient. Judgments of faith and prin- 
ciples should direct the true Christian. Through principles of 
faith we create, with God's grace, a life of faith. The great tri- 
umphant means for the propagation and security of principles is 
the proof. Without proof there are neither real rhetoric nor homi- 
letics. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 631 



We shall treat this most important article under the following 
view-points : 

(a) What should the preacher prove first and above all? 

(b) What should the preacher prove in the second line? 

(c) What kinds of proofs should the preacher adduce? 

id) How should the proofs and the material of proofs be viewed 
and arranged? 

(e) What forms of proofs should he select in the elaboration 
of the sermon? 

§ 1. First Question 
What should the Preacher Prove First and above All? 

1. The proof that the sermon is the word of God. The preacher 
must prove above all that what he says is really the word of God. 
The preacher must establish that his sermon originates in God, 
that it is drawn from the sources of revelation, that it belongs to 
the depositum fidei, that it is the doctrine of the Son of God, Christ 
Jesus, that it corresponds to the truth of the Church guided by 
the Holy Ghost. 

Upon this proof the preacher must concentrate his entire strength 
and all his talents: this requirement is absolutely indispensable. 
Only through the word of God is faith possible: fides ex auditu, 
auditus autem per verbum Christi. The Christian cannot penetrate 
supernatural truths; but it is absolutely necessary that he know 
that there are really supernatural truths — I must accept them 
upon the authority of God, qui nec falli nec f oiler e potest. (The 
Vatican Council.) 

For this requirement we have the most convincing proofs and 
the most authoritative examples. 

2. The reasons and examples for these requirements. The greatest 
reason is presented by: 

(a) The essence of Catholic doctrine itself 1 which is, in the fullest 
sense, God's word, and must be convincingly established as such. 
Only then is an act of faith established through a sermon: fides 
ex auditu: auditus autem per verbum Christi. The more detailed 
explanation of this proof is contained in the introduction, pp. 13-41, 
and in our treatise on Holy Scripture as the word of God in the 
fullest sense (p. 95, § 2), and on the ecclesiastical decisions (p. 583, 
LV. chap.). To this are added the examples of the greatest preach- 



632 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ers, who again adduce the most convincing reasons and experi- 
ences for this their method. 
We will mention: 

(b) The examples of all the great preachers of the Old Testa- 
ment, who, over and over again, present their sermons in the most 
solemn manner as the word of God : Dicit Dominus — and ior this 
purpose adduce the most conclusive proofs. 

(c) The examples of Christ Jesus Himself, Who in a grand 
manner establishes in a convincing and irrefragable clearness, 
through a well-planned series of miracles and divine proofs, through 
personal testimonies and testimonies of the Father, that God Him- 
self speaks in and through Him. The Gospels themselves are the 
most glorious proofs of the fact that the religion of Jesus is the 
word of God, but also the grandest homiletic type of how the word 
of the sermon is to be established as the word of God, and how, 
over and over again, the doctrine of Jesus is inseparately connected 
with the person of the Son of God in a most overwhelming 
manner. 

(d) The examples of the great preachers of the New Testament. 
We recall from amongst a number of appropriate examples merely 
the addresses of the Apostles contained in the Acts of the Apostles 
and in their letters. Faith, the commandments, and the sacraments 
are therein again and again referred back, in constantly new forms 
and turns, to the infallible Son of^God, Christ Jesus. (Compare, 
f.i., the beginning of the letter to the Hebrews and the texts quoted 
on p. 38, which present the sermon of the Apostle as a continuation 
of the sermon of Jesus.) We finally mention: 

(e) The requirements of the most prominent homilists. We 
will merely mention the father of homilists, St. Augustin. He 
develops the thought that sacred eloquence is chiefly engaged in 
producing the proof that a proposition belongs to the word of God, 
consequently one that is to be maintained as a supernatural truth 
of faith and of life. This proving is fundamentally different from 
that of profane eloquence. This demonstrates a knowledge from 
natural reasons or at least subjective, natural conviction. The 
argumentation of the sacred orator effects a supernatural main- 
tenance of truth upon the basis of the testimony of an infallible 
authority. 

Cicero, who is appealed to by Augustin, says: erit igitur elo- 
quens . . . qui in foro causisque civilibus ita dicit, ut probet, ut 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 633 



delectet, ut fledat. Probare necessitatis est, delectare suavitatis, flee- 
ter e victoriae. (Cic. Or. c. 21, n. 69.) 

St. Augustin remarks in reference to this: 1 dixit ergo quidam 
eloquens ita dicere debere eloquentem, ut doceat, ut delectet, ut flectat. 
Deinde addidit: docere necessitatis est, etc. The change from pro- 
bare to docere is not accidental. De doctrina, 4, c, 26, n. 56, St. 
Augustin teaches: Quid autem agimus divinis testimoniis docendo 
quod dicimus, nisi ut obedienter audiamur, id est ut credatur eis, 
opulante eo, cui dictum est: Testimonia 4ua credibilia facta sunt 
valde? What is our purpose when we support our speech in teach- 
ing and proving by divine testimony? This alone: that we be 
heard with an obedient consent of faith: in other words: that 
faith be given to the divine testimonies, and that with the help 
of the self-same God of Whom it is said: "Thy testimonies are 
become exceedingly credible." 

It is therefore a matter of vast importance to the great homilist 
that the hearers receive the word of the sermon upon the authority 
of God, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived. 

And, therefore, it is absolutely certain, without any doubt and 
for all times, that the preacher must triumphantly prove first and 
above all that his sermon is the word of God. 

Based upon these reasons we will mention: 

3. The ways and means to present the sermon as the word of 
God. 

(a) Through study and the popular application of positive 
dogma and moral. Here are found the real treasuries and gold- 
mines of proofs. Here we should dig for the irresistible proofs 
taken from Holy Scripture and tradition. These proofs the preacher 
should study well. Then he should select the most logically and 
rhetorically effective ones. Care, however, should be taken that 
a single sermon be not overloaded with an excess of proof-material. 
The proofs themselves should be developed to the people so that 
the hearer receive the sermon as the word of God, live, as it were, 
in the proof, and be finally convinced that the teaching of the 
preacher is not his word but the word of Him Who sent him: of 
the bishop, of the Pope, of Christ Jesus, of the Trinity Itself. 

(b) A vivid, striking, and an appropriate emphasis of the 
authority of God speaks itself. For the effectiveness of the direct 
proof it is very important to emphasize, from time to time, the 

1 De doctrina, 4. c. 12, n. 27. 



634 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



authority of Holy Scripture — of tradition — of the Church — of 
God Himself, especially of the God-Man. This is done occasionally 
in passing, by emphatically emphasizing, from time to time, in 
the quotation of texts, of decisions, etc., the authority from which 
they are taken: the Holy Ghost speaks, the Holy Ghost speaks 
through the Apostle St. Paul, not I speak, not men speak thus, 
but Christ the eternal truth Himself speaks, etc. The speaker will 
often make an impression if he preface certain highly important 
truths and sharp demands with a limited or an extensive proof of 
the divinity of Christ or of the infallibility of the Church. The 
authority which teaches these truths or makes these demands will 
then appear in its fullest significance. Oftentimes, also, circum- 
stances may be rhetorically and exegetically explained in which a 
word of God, a command of God, is expressed, f.i., the Risen Saviour 
brings us confession as the first Easter-offering and as the first 
command on His day of triumph, at His first appearance in the 
midst of the Apostles. (Consult above, pp. 322, 323, 324, 429, on 
the exposition of this thought.) If a papal ex cathedra decision 
be quoted, or a definition of a council, then a striking and very 
brief explanation or reminder of the infallible teaching authority 
of the Pope, of the essence of a council, of the operation of the 
Holy Ghost in a council, etc., may be introduced with profit. This 
should, however, not become a mania. But equally tasteless is the 
custom to quote constantly mere numbers, as from some learned 
book: I Cor. 13: 1, etc., or even: We read "already" in the first 
letter to the Corinthians, etc. 

The preacher should be often solicitous to permit the pure and 
full motive of faith: God Himself, the first truth to operate; to 
place the benevolent light, and also the full force, the power and 
the right of this first truth, which never deceives — before the 
soul of the Christian, in order that precisely this divine truth may 
directly move the Christian to faith and preserve him therein. 
This should be done especially on great feasts. (See above, p. 232 
sqq., p. 400 sqq., p. 448, and p. 449.) 

The preacher should, moreover, be solicitous to explain to his 
hearers the rule of faith, the infallible teaching authority of the 
Catholic Church, that they may know who it is that directly and 
infallibly and most securely proposes to them the divine truths. 
(Compare, p. 21 sqq., p. 402 sqq., pp. 448, 449.) And the preacher 
will finally fill the Christian with a high esteem, aye, with a true 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



635 



inspiration for the never failing, the living sources of these truths: 
for Holy Scripture and tradition. These are fundamental senti- 
ments and thoughts which should animate the whole argumenta- 
tion. And in this the rich contents of the word of God must be 
unfolded as much as possible in the proofs. We should develop 
to Christians the entire and undiminished truth of Christ in its 
reality. And the truth should strike the Christian not merely as a 
divine power, but as an illuminating and a beneficent light. The 
preacher who produces proofs is like a wise father of a family, 
who distributes from hidden treasures the richest and the most 
beautiful, so that it may benefit and bless all. 

To the ways and means, through and in which the sermon may 
be presented as the word of God, something negative must be 
added : 

(c) The avoidance of untenable proofs and exegeses. 

The preacher should especially guard against incorrect or false 
and unreasonable applications of scriptural texts. "The senseless 
application of texts which prove nothing, is accounted even in pro- 
fane writers as something inordinate and wrong, but it is much 
more a sin against the sacred dignity of the word of God." The 
following are often falsely quoted texts: Eccles. 38: 34; Eccles. 38: 27, 
28; Eccles. 38:31; Ps. 16:4; Ps. 17:26-28; Prov. 24:16; Jungm. 
I, p. 264 sqq. 

To these means may, finally, be added: 

(d) An introduction into truth. Man can never penetrate upon 
earth the mysteries of holy religion. Nevertheless, it is the duty 
of the preacher, who gives proofs, to introduce the Christian con- 
stantly deeper and deeper into the conception of the splendid, 
consoling, and enrapturing truths, to explain the connection of 
the several truths among themselves, and with the practical religious 
life. To this a solid argumentation, in the spirit of the Gospel, 
may also contribute very much. Thus, what we call the Catholic 
and divine view of the world is gradually established and developed. 

§ 2. Second Question 

What must the Preacher Prove in the Second Place? 

The preacher must prove, moreover, that many truths and 
requirements of revelation are also natural truths and requirements 
of the natural law. He must, moreover, prove that supernatural 



636 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



religion is indeed superrational, but never irrational, that it is 
rather fully and completely in accordance with sound reason to be 
subject, with the grace of God, to the truths of religion, that the 
supernatural does not destroy the natural but builds upon it and 
clarifies it, that nature and the supernatural originate from the same 
God. Thus there is also opened a large field of purely natural 
or, at least, partially natural argumentation (p. 104, pp. 551-553). 

We desire here to recall, especially, the proofs of the praeambula 
fidei, f.i., the natural truths: God lives — the soul is immortal, 
etc., the motives of credibility, the natural reasons for virtue or 
against vice, f.i., for temperance and against drunkenness. But 
the preacher may not — especially in the treatment of the prae- 
anibula fidei — strike a note which would make the hearers presume 
that the homilist considers them doubters, even of the natural 
fundamental truths. Thus, f.i., the one or the other proof of the 
divinity might be put in the form of the thought that — nature 
and conscience are preachers concerning God (p. 73). 

Similar conceptions are the following: noble and sound human 
reason and every deep thought proclaim it aloud that the soul is 
immortal. Then there should follow a popularized philosophical 
proof. (Compare Foerster's grand Easter-sermon on the resur- 
rection; consult Lacordaire and Monsabre; in Lacordaire you will 
find the natural proofs really masterly treated. Consult also thor- 
ough philosophical works.) An appeal to reason is indispensable 
today, when the natural foundations of religion are undermined. 
Even in moral themes the entire agere secundam naturam should 
be emphasized and an ascent made to the agere secundum naturam 
elevatam. But the proofs of purely natural reason are mere steps, 
never the main thing. No sermon, properly so called, should 
move exclusively upon a purely natural ground. The Apostle con- 
demns a mere acting persuabilibus humanae sapientiae verbis. He 
rather emphasizes: Fidem ex auditu, auditus autem per verbum 
Christi. (Rom. 10: 17.) A single conference, or certain themes of 
a long cycle of sermons, might indeed be treated more philosoph- 
ically. 

§ 3. Third Question 

What Kind and Species of Proofs must the Preacher Employ? 

The ancients called this the doctrine of " topics": the intro- 
duction to the places where proofs are found. The answering of 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



637 



the question: What must the preacher prove in the first and the 
second place? has already designated the principal categories of 
proofs. There are supernatural proofs, and these are the homi- 
letic proofs proper. Again, there are purely natural proofs, which 
do great service: in a preparatory, introductory, and a concom- 
itant manner. From the standpoint of Christian homiletics 
they appear merely as improper or secondary proofs. In contrast 
hereto we may mention, on account of the close connection between 
the supernatural and nature, also mixed proofs. We shall speak 
of these great classes of proofs in regard to their species and sub- 
species. In doing this we shall, at the same time, point to the 
places where the various species of proofs are found (to the topics). 

1. The sub-species of the real supernatural proofs. As has 
been already remarked, there are real, full proofs of sacred eloquence, 
in the strictest sense. These proofs indicate, possibly through a 
scriptural text, through an address of the Saviour, through a defini- 
tion of a council, etc., that the word preached is directly derived 
from revelation, therefore, directly from the mouth of God Him- 
self. These proofs furnish the real victories of Christian eloquence. 
They concentrate into the great thought: Christus locutus est, 
ecclesia locuta est: causa est finita: These real, supernatural proofs are: 

(a) Real, direct proofs. A scriptural word, an infallible defini- 
tion carries with it, as it is, a direct proof. It may mostly need an 
explanation, a popularization, a vivid bringing forth of striking 
circumstances which act as proofs at the same time. Such proofs 
are found in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John, for the 
sacrament of the Altar, and in the words of the institution at the 
Last Supper. But there are also: 

(b) Real, dialectic proofs. These are proofs which are success- 
fully drawn, by a logical conclusion, from some scriptural passage, 
from a definition of a council, from an ex cathedra definition, from 
the contents of tradition or of the magisterium ordinarium, etc. 
Thus, f.i., the preacher may successfully conclude the requirement 
of auricular confession (see a more detailed explanation in the 
paragraph on Lenten sermons, p. 322 sqq.) by a sharp, logical 
sequence from a popular exegesis of the words of the institution 
of the sacrament of penance on the night of Easter. These argu- 
ments are also perfectly valid and supernatural, but only by means 
of further sequences of created proofs. 

2. Places of finding and methods of real proofs. For this 



638 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



highly important subject we wish to recall briefly the following 

experiences : 

(a) It is absolutely necessary to consult good theological text- 
books and religious handbooks, and also dogmatic preachers for 
such proofs. 

(b) It ought be asked: Which proofs are classic, the most 
convincing, and best adapted for popularization? 

(c) It should be asked : What brilliant scriptural passage, what 
short and pregnant patristic text could be made the central point 
of an argumentation, or of a sub-point thereof? 

(d) Explain exegetically several scriptural or patristic texts in a 
thorough and kind manner; this is a conditio sine qua non. This 
work, thoroughly undertaken, will gradually become a real pleasure 
for the preacher. A mere stereotyped quotation is one of the 
principal faults of many homilists. 

(e) The preacher should introduce the hearers into the proofs 
of the Saviour, so that they may quasi live themselves into all 
that which the Apostles heard, adopted, perceived, and translated 
into their own lives of the doctrinal addresses of the Lord. Thus, 
f.i., the proof of the necessity of faith may be arranged: How did 
Jesus speak of Faith? (Concentration.) Prove, in this spirit, the 
sacrament of the Altar from John 6. (Consult also catechetical 
studies. Historic-dogmatic explanations.) In a similar manner 
might the proof of the institution of the sacrament of penance be 
triumphantly and ovenvhelmingly arranged, not merely from the 
words, but also from all the circumstances of the appearance of 
the Risen Saviour. 

(/) The proof must be so developed that the hearers may be 
induced to co-operate with and to follow the homilist step by step. 
This calls, indeed, for a certain popular breadth, at least, of the 
main proof. Therefore, not too much proof -material should be 
selected for one sermon. 

(g) Certain pauses should be introduced in which the given 
proofs should be repeated, collected, and illustrated by a new 
sketch or an historical event, so that the hearers may perceive a 
view of the conclusion and of the whole. 

(h) The conclusion of the proofs should be especially clearly, 
energetically, and brilliantly emphasized: like a captured booty, 
like a gained victory which the hearer has helped to plan, to accom- 
plish, and to fight. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 639 



A good argumentation is like the climbing of a hill, full of hard 
labor, with occasional pauses for rest and a final grand view. Thus, 
f.i., after an argumentation in behalf the sacrament of penance from 
the act of the institution by Christ, something will be retained, 
and the proofs gathered into one whole, in order that with full force, 
the thought may act upon the soul, that : Confession is a require- 
ment of Christ. 

(i) Still, the faculty of thinking of the hearers should not be 
so exclusively taxed during a long sermon as to mar its activity 
and pleasure. An illustrating figure ought follow the more difficult 
proofs, an appropriate emotion or a repetition in a conversational 
tone. Still, not too many emotions should be interwoven in the 
structure of the main proofs, at most only passing ones which 
warm and make glad, like the suddenly beaming rays of the sun. 
Through an excess of interwoven emotions the whole argumenta- 
tion goes to pieces. The means of illustration and the brilliant 
exegesis ought shape the proof in an attractive and refreshing 
manner. 

3. The so-called remote, improper, natural, or secondary proofs. 
They are those already mentioned above — the purely natural 
proofs, which we desire to mention merely on account of the com- 
pleteness of the enumeration. That which was said under No. 2 
obtains here, mutatis mutandis, in a methodic manner. 

4. Mixed proofs. These are proofs taken from certain sources 
and view-points, which may be, according to the material which 
they furnish, either supernatural or natural. Their study becomes 
very fruitful, especially in extensive examples of great speakers. 
(See Schleiniger, Mustersammlung in "Beweisfiihrung" and Schlein- 
niger, Predigtamt, Beweisfiihrung, p. 265 sqq., and p. 314 sqq. : Der 
Beweis; also Jungmann, Geist der Beredsamkeit: Beweise und 
Beispiele, p. 261 sqq.) The topics of these proofs, i.e., the finding 
of their places, may be limited to the following view-points : 

(a) Proofs taken from definitions. The places in which they 
may be found are acts of councils, ex cathedra definitions, definitions 
of the Church, especially theology and not infrequently Holy Scrip- 
ture, as well as the masterly sermons of great preachers. Thus, 
f.i., the proof of the necessity of faith may be gathered from the 
celebrated definition of faith by the Council of Trent, Sess. 6, c. 6. 
(See above, p. 585.) 

(b) Proofs by an analysis of the whole into parts. Homiletic 



640 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



theses are often successfully proven by solid and brilliant analysis 
of the several notions and judgments. Thus the proof of the 
infinite value of sanctifying grace might be deducted from the 
analysis of the notion: sanctifying grace, viewed from all sides, 
f.i., the second life, the second power from above, the childhood 
of God, participation in the attributes of God, the beginning of 
heaven on earth. (See above, a similar explanation, p. 90.) 

(c) Proofs from the inexhaustible relation between cause and 
effect, end and means, f.i., the proof of our necessary co-operation 
with grace from what Christ did, f.i., from the nativity, the life, 
the death, the resurrection, the Church, the sacraments, the papacy, 
the priesthood — all this is placed at the disposal of your soul: 
omnia vestra sunt: Paulus, Apollo, Kephas, tempus, vita, mors, 
etc. Therefore — neither can you remain inactive. You must 
co-operate. The gigantic works of Christ must not be done 
in vain: Videte, ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis. (See the 
Epistle of the I. Sunday of Lent.) 

(d) Proofs of induction. The composition of individual things 
and facts, in order to unfold thereby a great general, triumphant 
principle which diffuses light and consolation — is rhetorically very 
effective, especially in combination with other proofs, f.i., a com- 
position of the surprising traits of divine providence taken from 
the Bible : Joseph, Tobias, the Holy Family, Peter, Paul, — to 
convince the hearers that a providence exists and reigns, which 
ordains and directs all, even the minutest thing. Proofs gathered 
from the history of experience and from life often mightily support 
the preceding dogmatic and moral proofs, and are very popular. 
(Compare Hebr., c. 11, on faith.) The immortal and grand proofs 
of the loving providence of the Father presented by the Lord in 
His addresses on the lilies of the field, the grass of the desert, the 
ravens which the Father feeds, the sparrows which do not fall 
from the roof-top without the will of the Father, the hairs of our 
head which are counted, etc., are all direct and surprising natural 
proof of induction. But as assurances of the Son of God they 
become, at the same time, supernatural inductions and syntheses. 
(Compare below: catechetical studies on syntheses and analyses 
in religious instruction.) 

(e) Proofs taken from the relation of individual things to their 
kind. Put any doctrine, commandment, a case of ecclesiastical 
discipline (an individual thing) into the light of a great and sur- 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 641 



prising principle (the kind), f.i., an indulgence among the thoughts: 
a gift from the blood-stained hand of Christ on the cross, a glorious 
gift from the treasury of the merits of Christ — a sacramental 
among the thoughts: humiliation of proud man and proud Satan, 
since God attaches to an insignificant thing immeasurable super- 
natural graces. (Compare the mass of Feria II of the third week 
of Lent.) Explanation of the refusal of Christian burial by the 
great principles of Canon Law. 

§ 4. Fourth Question 
How are the Proofs and their Material to be Viewed and Arranged? 

Of the utmost importance is the disposition of the arrangement 
and collection of the several proofs. We shall briefly call to mind 
the following work, leaving details more to practical exercises: 

(a) The collection of scriptural material for proofs, eventually 
under running numbers, names, and remarkable words, before 
elaborating the sermon. 

(b) The elimination of the superfluous material of proof. 

(c) The arrangement of the material of proofs. This principle 
should be observed in the arrangement: ut Veritas pateat, placeat, 
moveat. 

(a) Examine the logical form of the proofs, but: 

ifi) Weigh well their rhetorical form also: 

(y) Therefore, place at the conclusion of the argumentation 
several of the logically and rhetorically strongest fruits: crescat 
oratio. 

(d) The disposition of the entire argumentation: seek very 
good sources of divisions. They are found: 

(a) Often in scriptural texts, f.i., a sermon on Good Friday: 
Praedicamus Christum crucifixum: 1. Dei sapientiam; 2. Dei vir- 
tutem. The Fourth Sunday after Easter: Spiritus Sanctus arguet 
mundum: 1. de peccato; 2. de judicio; 3. de justitia. (Consult a 
good commentary, above, pp. 477-480.) 

(/3) Patristic texts often render the same service. (Splendid 
examples are to be found in Bourdaloue.) 

(y) Theological text-books are often fruitful sources of arrange- 
ments of proofs. (Compare the Summa of St. Thomas, the short 
handbook of Willmer.) 

(8) The liturgy also, especially the missal. (See the exercises 
of the ecclesiastical year.) 



642 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(e) Avoid a stereotyped routine in the disposition of proofs. 
Do not always follow the same series: the Scriptures, the Fathers, 
and reason, i. A change can easily be arranged. The following 
view-points: How does the first page of the Old Testament speak 
of Mary (Protoevangelium)? 2. How do the first pages of the book 
of the prophet speak of Mary (Ecce Virgo, etc., Isa.)? 3. How does 
the first page of the New Testament speak of Mary? (The angel- 
ical salutation, etc.) — are recommendable, f.i., as a division with 
the important point of novelty, for a Marian sermon on the great- 
ness of Mary. 

(e) Strive to give the disposition of proofs a rhetorical charac- 
ter. The disposition of proofs should be dialogical and conversa- 
tional, so that it may engage the interest and even bring all things 
into a new and striking form. For this purpose good preachers 
ought be consulted, f.i., Bourdaloue, Ravignan, Foerster, Eber- 
hard, P. Roh, Gretsch, and Kolmar. The sermon should not be 
a dissertation intended for no one. Be the matter ever so splendid, 
still, the sermon will be in fact suited to no one, if not all forces 
and talents are employed to speak to the hearers, to their condi- 
tions, to think with them and to make, in a measure, the proofs 
themselves a matter which they have at heart, a matter of the one 
great necessity. (Compare the excellent treatise of Schleiniger: 
Predigtamt, p. 340 sqq.) 

(/) Apply a quiet, logical, and rhetorical criticism to your own 
disposition of proofs after having laid it away for several hours 
or days. 

§ 5. Fifth Question 

What Forms should the Preacher Select for the Several Proofs? 

1. In general, the principle will suffice that all possible forms 
of solid proofs be taken from and compared with and modeled 
after the sources of revelation, of great theologians and practical 
preachers. 

2. In particular we would distinguish: 

(a) A simply argumentative sermon. (See above.) 

(b) A sermon of refutation. Here the solid, positive proof 
should preferably and generally precede, and then some of the 
striking objections or those that have been energetically and briefly 
refuted should follow in their customary form. Catchwords and 
general prejudices should here also be especially considered. 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 



643 



Pro praxi, we wish to call the following briefly to mind : 

(a) Excellent apologetic material is found for this dogmatic, 
psychologic, and exegetical field in the "Apologie" of Hettinger. 
This " Apologie" furnishes, at the same time, its thoughts in a classic 
form, of course intended especially for a cultured public. Apolo- 
getic material in regard to natural sciences is especially furnished 
by Schanz and Gutberlet in their apologetic works. (In all these 
authors very interesting and critically viewed citations are found.) 
For apologetics of the doctrine on the sacraments the treatise of 
Schanz, on the sacraments, is a most excellent auxiliary means. 
Schell's Apologie (1902) pays especial attention to the more recent 
objections of the cultured. The general prejudices of the age are 
very ably refuted, in a short and popular manner, in the writings 
of Hammerstein. (Compare, f.i., " Edgar," "Breckmann," etc.) 
Hammerstein's writings are a kind of an arsenal of popular apolo- 
getics, a stock-catechism for the defense of the Church. For more 
difficult problems recourse should be had, of course, to really 
specific works. Among preachers we would especially mention 
Foerster's Zeitpredigten, the sermons of Ketteler, P. Roh, P. Abel, 
Lacordaire, Monsabre. 

(/3) For moral apologetics, generally more difficult than the dog- 
matic, because there is not merely question about the solution of 
difficulties, but also about the change of the heart, — we recom- 
mend as a paying mine Weiss' Apologie, B. V. (Compare also the 
rich indices.) The sermons of Bourdaloue, Massillon, and Hunolt 
contain excellent models of refutation. The treatises of general 
moral theology, and likewise positively treated special moral 
theologies, are used to great advantage for moral apologetics. We 
recommend under these view-points the moral theologies of Miiller, 
Gopfert, and also Noldin. 

(c) The real defensive sermons. The themes of these are objec- 
tions, f.i., the refutation of the proposition: It matters very little 
what sort of a religion you profess, if only you live uprightly. The 
following should be here recommended: 

(a) A dogmatic examination of the prejudices, which each 
preacher himself ought first institute by special work and prep- 
aration. 

(/3) A logical examination, f.i., by means of the syllogistic form, 
(y) A consultation of real defensive works. For this we recom- 
mend, in the first place, the theological, apologetic, specific literature 



644 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and magazines; next Segur: Confidential Answers; De Maistre: 
Evening Hours Spent at St. Petersburg; P. Nilkes, S.J. : Schutz- 
und TrutzwarTen; Pesch: Religious life, Philosophy of life. Also 
several more recent works on historical lies, material gathered for 
historic-apologetic addresses, etc. 

id) A formal finish : in regard to the forms, in the more limited 
sense, we desire to call attention to the following methods: 

(a) Call into question the ability of the opponent to judge, 
f.i. : all speak of faith. Many dispute about faith. But who is 
an expert? Who is entitled to speak and to decide? No one but 
Christ : What does He say of faith? (Let the positive proofs follow.) 

(J3) Restore the proper meaning of certain words, f.i., of Chris- 
tian liberty, in relation to the catchword — liberty, as a noble 
freedom of the will, as freedom of the children of God whom truth 
makes free, as being morally mature for rich political liberty See 
the encyclical of Leo XIII : Praestaniissimum bonum and especially 
the encyclicals of Leo XIII in general. 

(y) Turn the objection against its own maker. Thus it may 
be shown that unbelief is the enemy of true culture — that sin is 
the enemy of liberty. (Excellent examples will be found in Mas- 
sill on, f.i. in the sermon on the delay of repentance — on venial 
sin, etc.) 

(S) Gather the objections and, at the same time, the subse- 
quently added refutations, which are couched in burning and mov- 
ing language, into one whole. " Fight only with short and sharp 
points instead of using long weapons. Aim at the heart by pene- 
trating and luminous strokes sent forth as swiftly as an arrow." 
(Audisio, Lectures on Sacred Eloquence, p. i, I, 21.) Compare, 
f.i., Massillon's sermon on the mixing of the good and the wicked; 
Gretsch, sermon on the damned, the end of the first part. Neuve- 
viile: sermon on All Saints. Charity, which desires to save and 
to reconcile at all cost, should penetrate each refutation in its 
severity of form. 

(e) The most general form of refutation, however, consists in 
the clear distinction of the objection. Try to find the solid theo- 
logical defensive distinction, and then popularize the same. 

For the entire economy of proofs a deeper understanding of 
the history of the human heart and the homiletic revelation of 
precisely this mysterious history is especially effective. (See Mas- 
sillon, f.i., his cycle of Advent, sermon i, on the happiness of the 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 645 



just; sermon 3, on the delay of conversion; Lenten sermons 9 
and 10, sermon on prayer. 

We will conclude this highly important treatise on defensive 
argumentation with the divine words addressed to the prophet 
Jeremias, 1: 11: Ecce constitui te, ut evellas et destruas et disperdas 
et dissipes et aedifices et plantes. 

Article III. Ways and Means to Effect the Will 

The influence of the will is the main thing, the main success — 
the victory: Flectere victoriae est, says Cicero. Still more pro- 
foundly does Holy Scripture express this: Vivus est sermo Dei et 
efficax, penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti, etc. (Heb. 4:12 sqq.), 
ut vitam habeant et abundantius habeant. (John 10: 10.) Filioli, 
quos iterum parturio, donee formetur Christus. (Gal. 4: 19.) We 
have already treated this main object of the sermon scientifically 
and practically in our exposition of the psychological foundation 
of sacred eloquence (p. 28, § 3), again in the consideration of the 
definition of sacred eloquence (p. 20, § 1), and especially more 
fully in the first chapter of the second book, wherein we have 
proved the first fundamental principle of sacred eloquence and 
explained it very minutely: Preach practically (pp. 51-78). There 
a considerable number of means, belonging to this part, were treated 
in detail (pp. 52-72). Therefore here there is simply question of a 
combination of the specific rhetorical means acting upon the will. 

We will mention the following ways and means : 

1. Proofs as motives and means of operating on the will. The 
successful proofs and motives proposed to the faithful intelligence 
are already in themselves a first incitement to the motives of feel- 
ing and of the will. In their whole composition and organic con- 
struction they must work mightily on the determination of the will. 
For details we refer to the treatise on the practical sermon, espe- 
cially on the practical fixing of the purpose (pp. 65-73) and the 
application (pp. 73-80). 

2. The awakening of the emotions of feeling as a means of 
moving the will. The awakening of religious emotions of feeling 
is a principal means of acting upon the will. We refer again to our 
fuller exposition in the treatment of the psychological foundations 
of sacred eloquence (pp. 28-32), where we fully treat the homiletic 
significance of the emotions of feeling. We shall here merely recall 
two points : 



646 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(a) The speaker should awaken involuntary, religious, and 
supernatural emotions of feeling. 

(b) Under the operation of the word of God and of God's grace 
these emotions of feeling of the hearers should pass into religious 
activity of feeling, i.e., into a real determination of the will, resolu- 
tion, amendments and renewals of life, which act upon the whole 
human being. 

3. The species of the emotions of feeling or the emotions. The 
Council of Trent mentions, in its description of justification, four 
powerful emotions which, above all, control religious life. To these 
all other emotions may be aptly reduced. We have often empha- 
sized these fundamental emotions, especially in the treatise on Holy 
Scripture and on the ecclesiastical year. (See, among others, our 
exposition of the Sundays of Advent with our occasional remarks 
on the fundamental sentiments of the Sundays.) 

(a) The emotion of faith. The original source of all emotions 
is faith, which is not merely a matter of the intellect, but also an 
act of the will and, indeed, an act of the will with all its powerful 
echo in man. (See above — introduction, pp. 13-27, but especially 
p. 43 sqq., on the spirit of faith.) Of its power the Holy Ghost says 
(I. John 5:4): Haec est victoria, quae vincit mundum: fides nostra. 
Consider the powerful emotion of faith described in the Gospels 
(how does Jesus think and speak and feel concerning faith?) the 
splendid joyful emotion of faith in the letter to the Romans and to 
the Hebrews, (f.i., in c. 11), in the Councils of Trent and of the Vati- 
can, and also in the whole of the liturgy. Compare herewith all 
that we have said of the spirit of faith and of the joyful faith of 
ecclesiastical consciousness (pp. 43 and 44). Examples, to show how 
to effect the will through this emotion, we have already given, 
especially in our excursus on the feast of Epiphany, pp. 232, 233, on 
Holy Saturday, p. 400 sqq., and throughout the whole of Eastertide. 

(/3) The emotion of fear: Timor Domini initium sapientiae. 
The first source of this emotion is the consideration of the creature 
in relation to the creator. For this purpose consult the prophets, 
preferably Isaias and Baruch, the treatise de Deo uno, trino et crea- 
tore, especially the attributes of God considered in the light of Holy 
Scripture. See, f.i., Stolz, Kalender: Das Bilderbuch Gottes. A 
fruitful source of this mighty emotion is likewise the book of the 
Exercises of St. Ignatius, which concentrates, as in one focus, all 
the emotions and inclinations of the fear of God into its fundamental 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 647 



meditation. (See p. 596 sqq.) The meditation of eternal truths 
is especially a focus of this emotion and of the conclusions of the 
will and the amendments of life that proceed therefrom. In regard 
to this emotion the preacher must not forget the principle of Holy 
Scripture: Deum time, mandata ejus observa: hoc est totus homo. 
(See above, p. 127.) Compare herewith also A. Stolz, Erziehungs- 
kunst (Gottesfurcht), likewise Father Faber, The Creator and the 
Creature; in these homiletic studies see the explanations, p. 127 
sqq., also our excursus on the feast of Epiphany, especially p. 233 
sqq., also the planned sketches of the I. Sunday of Advent, f.i., 
pp. 177 and 185. (Compare pp. 73, 74, 103.) 

(y) The emotion of hope. The most fruitful and popular emo- 
tion of hope is contained in the Our Father. The most exalted 
motive of hope the preacher may cull from the image of the Saviour 
in the Gospels. (See also below: Principal themes of sermons: 
Christ and our needs, also p. 138 sqq.; the expected one of Israel 
and of the nations. Compare especially the Gospel of Luke.) The 
liturgy is a grand interpreter of hope. (See, f.i., the II. Sunday of 
Advent, p. 189 sqq., p. 193 sqq. (H), the entire Advent and Holy 
Week, especially Holy Saturday, p. 385 sqq., 399 sqq., Easter, the 
II. Sunday after Easter, p. 463 sqq., the IV. Sunday after Easter, 
p. 479 sqq., the Rogation Sunday, p. 482 sqq., the feast of the 
Sacred Heart of Jesus, p. 528 sqq.) Subjects of sermons which 
awaken the emotion of hope mightily are : The sacrifice of the mass, 
the tabernacle, Holy Communion, devotion to the Sacred Heart: 
Adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae, Hebr. 4: 16. 

The emotion of hope should not be forgotten, especially in ser- 
mons on the sacrament of penance, against impurity, and on the 
eternal truths. 

(8) The highest emotion is charity. Charity is the most fruit- 
ful of all the decisions of the will, of all amendments of char- 
acter and of docility. This most victorious of all emotions should 
control, in a latent manner, all the activity of preaching according 
to the word of God and the example of the Saviour: Ignem veni 
mittere in terram, et quid volo, nisi ut accendatur, Luke 12 : 49. From 
time to time, however, this emotion must break through the address 
like a flame of fire : it will then be the source of the greatest victories. 

We have devoted considerable attention to this emotion and to 
the immeasurable field of its practical fruitfulness in the entire 
domain of the will and in the whole extent of supernatural life. 



648 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



We have developed its homiletic importance in a theoretic and 
practical manner. We have presented an entire school of charity, 
which percolates the entire Holy Scripture, the liturgy, and the 
entire Catholic ascetics. 

We have begun our studies precisely under this view-point : Si 
Unguis hominum loquar et angelorum, charitatem autem non habeant, 
f actus sum velut aes sonans et cymbulum tinniens, I. Cor., c. 13. The 
spirit of love we have recognized as the real essence, the very soul 
of the great mystery of all homiletic fruitfulness (see pp. 47-50). 
The homiletic summit of Holy Scripture we have recognized in the 
announcement of the principal commandment of love, contained 
already in the Old Testament (see p. 119 sqq.), and especially in the 
New Testament in the life of Jesus, incarnate love (pp. 137-145). 
The entire liturgy, which unfolds and renews for us the life of Jesus, 
is conceived under the one objective thought of supernatural love: 
ut, dum, visibiliter Deuni cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilium 
amor em rapiamur. Besides innumerable other opportunities we 
have especially found occasion at Christmas (see pp. 209-211, espe- 
cially p. 216 sqq. II., 238 sqq.), on Quinquagesima Sunday (p. 259 
sqq.), on Passion Sunday (pp. 293-303), on Holy Thursday (see 
especially pp. 364-369), on Good Friday (pp. 378-377), on Easter 
(p. 441 sqq.), on Pentecost and its octave (see pp. 528 sqq., 505 sqq,, 
509, 510, 515, 516), on the feast of the Sacred Heart (p. 528 sqq.), 
to draw attention to the practical school of divine love, which per- 
meates the great circles of feasts and in which the homilist will learn 
to act in a practical and fruitful manner on the will. In the super- 
ficially cursive treatment of the Sundays after Pentecost, an explicit 
and well-planned education in love again beamed upon us (see p. 537) 
[XII. Sunday after Pentecost], p. 604; [XVII. Sunday after Pente- 
cost], p. 545; [XXI. Sunday after Pentecost]. In looking back upon 
the entire ecclesiastical year this most fruitful and central thought 
again looms up (pp. 565 sqq., 571, 569-571). An ascetic-homiletic 
meditation will show us love as the essence, the substance, and the 
very acme of Christian progress and of all perfection (see pp. 505- 
507). The deepest mystery of the persevering impression on the 
will and the feelings is therefore that love which puts but the one 
question to God, to the Church, and to itself : How can the souls 
of the various nations and men be gained for Christ and advanced 
so that Christ, and He alone, may be formed in them here and 
finally hereafter? (See pp. 47-51). 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 649 



Very effective are the so-called mixed emotions if they bubble up, 
as it were, from the very subject and object of the sermon. 

4. The source of emotions. Ex abundantia cordis os loquitur. 
No emotion is of any value unless it come from the heart of the 
speaker. But then, the filling of the heart and of the feelings with 
things divine is absolutely necessary. We shall here recall three 
things which are not surpassed by anything else : 

(a) The universal penetration into Holy Scripture, the original 
source of all emotions. 

(/8) The contemplating and homiletic penetration of the liturgy, 
the pulsation of the heart of the Church (see above, the ecclesias- 
tical year, pp. 172-570). . 

(y) The regular meditation through which religion and all it 
contains becomes a matter of the heart, of the feelings, and of the 
will (see above, p. 43 and especially pp. 45, 46, 47: Corollary). 

5. The expression of the emotions. We distinguish between vir- 
tual pathos, which percolates speech like a living, but a quiet fire 
that does not break out in full force. The latent pathos is regarded 
the regular bearer of emotions. And the open and full pathos, in 
which the feeling breaks out like flames of fire and grasp and carry 
along all things in their course. This is the apex of eloquence, 
but not that which is regular and persevering therein. Far-fetched 
and manufactured pathos is burdensome, and may become even 
ridiculous. Emotions and pathos follow very much the tempera- 
ment. A quiet temperament should be less anxious to excite 
vehemently, but rather to move and to gain by latent warmth and 
by the quiet force of love. 

The more numerous the audience, the greater the capacity of 
the Church, the more vehement and powerful may pathos appear in 
general, in speech and in gestures. In limited quarters and espe- 
cially before a cultured audience, too vehement emotions might be- 
come rather repulsive, offensive, or even ridiculous. 

The unctious character, coming from a sacred depth of feeling, 
of a speech equally free of dryness and sentimentality, is called the 
unction of a speech, and is, above all, an effect of the gifts of the 
Holy Ghost (see p. 44), of deeper meditation, and of an ascetic life. 
This unction of speech is profoundly described in Deuteronomy, 
32:2 sqq. : " Concrescat ut pluvia doctrina mea, fiuat ut ros eloquium 
meum, quasi imber super herbam et quasi stillae super gramina. 
Like the rain which penetrates the earth, now in gushing streams 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



from the heavens, now dripping like a mild dew of spring, so is there 
also for speech a double penetrability, one by means of soft impres- 
sions . . , The unction is the heavenly seasoning of the preacher's 
style, the expression of love diffused by the Holy Ghost into apos- 
tolic hearts, the speech of piety, of meekness, and of zeal. As the 
all-refreshing dew falls from the heavens, so does it gush forth 
naturally from the depth of an emotion filled with God : it is gener- 
ated by grace and not by rhetorical effort." (Schleiniger, Das kirch- 
liche Predigtamt, p. 427.) This is also painted for us in the hymn: 
Veni Creator Spiritus. . . . fons vivus, ignis, caritas et spiritalis 
unctio — and by the prayer of the Church on the Saturday of the 
week of Pentecost : tile nos igne quaesumus Domine, Spiritus Sanctus 
inflammet, quern Dominus Noster Jesus Christus misit in tenant et 
voluit vehementer accendi. Ille nos ignis absumat, qui discipulorum 
Filii tui per Spiritum Sanctum corda succendit. All these proper- 
ties are generally contained in the expression: the penetrability 
of a sermon. (Compare p. 71 sqq., p. 85 sqq.) 

From the preceding investigations we have already seen that 
very much depends on the character of the speech that serves as the 
vehicle of the emotions. Therefore we have still to consider : 

6. The linguistic vehicle of emotions. We refer especially to 
the treatise on popularity (p. 78 sqq.). We would particularly call 
the following to mind: 

(a) Consider and study carefully emotional passages of Holy 
Scripture. There you will find 

(act) Incomparable types of latent pathos, f.i., generally in the 
books of the Kings; compare Elias and the widow of Sarepta, 
Elias on Mt. Horeb; furthermore: the history of Daniel, innumer- 
able scenes of the Gospels, f.i., Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth; 
contemplate the description of the fury of the Jews who wish to 
cast the Saviour down from the precipice, and then the supernatural 
calm victory of the majesty of Christ: et ipse per medium illorum 
ibat. To this class belongs the entire history of the Passion con- 
sidered in detail by the four evangelists, or as a harmony by all. 

(/30) Unexcelled types of the most positive and the highest 
pathos are found also in Holy Scripture; compare herein the whole 
book of Isaias and Daniel, the Sermon on the Mount, many passages 
of the Gospel of John, the hymn on faith, Heb. 11; the substantial 
and formally unsurpassed hymn on charity, I. Cor. 13. 

(0) The preacher should endeavor to live into the life of the 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 651 

ecclesiastical year. There is no better school, even for linguistic 
expressions of emotions. (Compare, f.i., our explanations of Holy 
Week in relation to these view-points.) 

(y) Among the linguistic means, in the more limited sense, we 
will mention: 

(act) Amplification, i.e., the rich expansion of a single thought 
according to all its new and striking sides, but not in exuberant 
tautologies and empty phrases. Thus, f.i., an amplification might 
be effected and painted from the Gospel of the second Sunday of 
Lent (the Transfiguration of Christ) as an affective point of a 
thematic homily, as a peroration of a sermon with a sub-basis of the 
following thought: Christ the transfigured lawgiver — for Him 
testifies the Old Testament: Moses and Elias are called from an- 
other world as witnesses. The faith and the law of the Old Testa- 
ment declare : Unus est legislator, Christus. On the mountain peak 
Peter, James, and John He upon their faces. Eight days previously 
Peter was proclaimed Pope : the first Pope and the Church — the 
New Testament pay homage to Christ, they are seeking only one: 
Christ : Unus est legislator noster. And a voice cries from Heaven : 
This is my beloved Son: hear ye Him! Heaven, the Blessed Trin- 
ity Itself testifies in favor of Christ: One is your lawgiver, hear 
ye Him! — The Old and the New Testament, the centuries before 
and after Christ, heaven and earth, the here and hereafter call out 
to you: ipsuni audite, hear ye Christ, He gives unto you all the 
Sacred Ten Commandments, which no one may undo. As He 
explains them and has thus explained them through His Church — 
so have they their force: ipsum audite. Every command, every 
doctrine of Christ and of the Church is the word of the Son of God 
and of the transfigured Saviour. (Compare p. 279). 

(ft ft) Concentration — a close compression of a powerful range 
of thoughts, or of a grand series of facts, into a few energetic lines, 
but always richly colored and of an ever Kving climax. Thus, f.i., 
a concentric description of the Passion of Christ might be impres- 
sively arranged under the following fundamental and objective 
thoughts, quickly and briefly painted: Jesus is robbed of His joy — 
on Calvary; of His liberty — at His capture ; of His honor — before 
Herod; of His health — at the scourging at the pillar ; of His right — 
before Pilate ; of His love — on the way to the cross (cast out by 
all); of all (joy, liberty, honor, health, right, love, life), on the cross. 
(Deus meus ut quid dereliquisti met) Such a concentration might 



652 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



again be strengthened by an explanation of the ceremonies at the 
end of the matins of Holy Week (compare pp. 358, 359). But both 
pictures should not be mixed up in a planless manner; they ought to 
follow each other in mutual ascendency. One candle is extinguished 
after the other; finally, the only one is left that typifies Christ. 
Then there arises an unusual noise in the church. Now, even this 
candle is concealed. But is soon again shown, still burning. Thus 
joy, liberty, honor ... is extinguished in Christ. His friends flee. 
He is calumniated, betrayed, becomes an outcast. His love burns 
in secret, hidden in the tumult, concealed on the cross, in the grave 
— but love is not extinguished; like that light it will flare up on 
Easter morn, as a huge flame it will embrace the whole world and 
millions of men: Ignem veni mittere in tenant et quid volo nisi ut 
accendatur. When amplification and concentration gain a larger 
and more richly colored uniform expansion, then arises a rhetorical 
picture. 

Amidst the attacks of emotions, which break forth by means of 
amplification like flames and floods or collapse into a concentra- 
tion, the feelings and the heart and the will of the people are 
mightily affected. But a conditio sine qua non in all these lin- 
guistic means is: the truth and the supernaturalness of all these 
emotions and a natural and inartificial clothing, corresponding to 
the individuality of the same in a transparent and energetic lin- 
guistic form. Examples hereof are furnished by all great speakers, 
f.i., Leo the Great, Bourdaloue, Bossuet, Foerster, Kolmar, Eber- 
hard. In such studies the conclusions of the several climaxes and 
perorations should be especially noticed. A very instructive com- 
pilation of examples of this kind is found in Schleiniger, Muster- 
sammlung fur Prediger. 

We mention, furthermore, as a predominant linguistic means 
in a certain sense, which, as a vehicle of holy emotions, brings the 
homilist in close touch with the feelings and the emotions of the 
audience : 

iyy) The conversational tone of the discourse. This is a form 
of discourse which comes in close contact with the hearers and 
often forms itself virtually into a holy conversation. It exercises 
itself in a unique diaphanous development of its contents, mostly 
in short sentences of a fluent communicative language, and expresses 
itself also in a certain tactful directness of gestures. Cardinal Bel- 
larmin designates this quality by these excellent words: Ita cum 



THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 653 



multis agere ac si seorsum cum singulis ageretur {Be ratione formandi 
concionatoris instructio). With this the vivacity and clarity of the 
presentation, amidst a vivid and direct influence of the objective 
thoughts, ought to be combined. If on the contrary the preacher 
should speak in a feeble, chilly manner and use worn-out expressions 
and conceptions that act upon deaf ears and speak in a dry academic 
tone and in a completely vague manner, then he would seem to ad- 
dress no one, because his so-called speech is no address. The vivacity 
and the conversational tone ascend in affective passages to what is 
called the dramatic part of the address. (See, f.L, Massillon, Bossuet 
(especially his funeral orations), Bourdaloue (his moral sketches, which 
introduce a real parley between the Gospel and the hearers, etc.) 

7. The power of presentation, which manifests itself especially 
in the solidity of the thoughts and in the directness of the emo- 
tions and avoids all tautologies and meaningless epithets, such as — 
most charming, glorious, extraordinary, etc. Holy Scripture is a 
school of the power of emotions. Among the writings of the Fathers 
consult the Apologeticus of Tertullian, Augustin — on the value of 
fasting; Basil, homily 14, against drunkenness. 

The power of presentation is again combined with the so-called 
penetrability of presentation. We have attempted to show more 
fully the essence of this splendid quality on our treatise on the 
popularity of Holy Scripture (p. 85 sqq.). 

8. The final direct means which act on the will. When the 
emotional life is excited and the religious and supernatural emotions 
have acted upon the Christians, then the well-known direct prac- 
tical means will act most effectively, though, of course, the free-will 
of the audience, under the influence of grace, must now turn the 
scale. We have already considered these direct practical means 
in the consideration of the supreme laws of sacred eloquence; 
see: Preach practically (p. 50 sqq.), and we wish to emphasize them 
here once more. We mean 

(aa) The direct illumination of the objective thoughts which draw 
the hearer entirely into the domain of the speaker. (See p. 65 sqq.) 

(/3/3) The direct, practical, concrete, and touching applications. 
(See p. 72 sqq.) 



1500k V 




THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 

HE third book of our homiletic studies answered theo- 
fj retically and practically the question: Whence should 
the preacher draw his ideas? We endeavored to 
ffl present and to develop the sources of sacred eloquence 



in the answer in such a manner that their treatment might be 
formed into a real homiletic school. 

Hereby we have already furnished a preparatory and prolific 
work for the main question of this fifth book, regarding the contents 
of sacred eloquence. The question of this fifth book : What should 
the homilist preach? or: What should be the substance of the 
Catholic sermon? might be answered simply thus : That should be 
preached which the homilist has drawn from the first supernatural 
sources and their deductions and which he has personally worked 
out and lived into. For this personal elaboration and formation 
the fourth book furnished detailed plans on the means of sacred 
eloquence. But, amidst the wealth of the several sources and the 
means, it is of the greatest advantage to gather into a comprehen- 
sive view, and to learn to know better, the real, complete, determined, 
and grand themes which ought to constitute the substance of the Catholic 
sermon. Though we have touched these series of themes in the prac- 
tical treatment of the sources over and over again and according 
to their various sides, because we developed the ways and the meth- 
ods how to draw from the sources, and how that which is drawn 
is to be personally elaborated, nevertheless, a new, clear, and sys- 
tematic disposition of the contents of the Catholic sermon might, 
ex professo, be of great advantage. This is precisely the task of 
this treatise on the substance of sacred eloquence. 

We may here be comparatively brief, since the treatise on the 

654 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 655 



sources offers the richest positive proofs of the established prin- 
ciples on this subject. 

We shall place our discussion of the substance of sacred elo- 
quence under the following three questions: 

What especially should we not preach? 

What kind of themes are to be treated? 

Which ought to be the main themes of a sermon? 

§ 1. First Question 
What ought we not to preach? 

This question is briefly and strikingly answered by Jungmann: 
"If the object of sacred eloquence consist, essentially, in present- 
ing the word of God and supernatural truth by means of speech 
and thereby to awaken and foster Christian life, then it becomes 
self-evident that all which is not the word of God, not supernatural 
truth, not adapted to foster Christian life, that all this must be 
excluded from the Christian sermon. Therefore, propositions of 
natural philosophy, purely scientific theological questions which are 
of no consequence to life, mere opinions of theological schools, 
above all, political questions relating to the history of civilization, 
economic, medicinal, natural-scientific or otherwise profane dis- 
cussions, belong neither to the pulpit nor to catechetical instruc- 
tion. We have reason to thank God that today the majority of 
Catholic preachers scarcely need to be reminded of this point. But 
the time was not long ago when Michael Sailer regarded it nowise 
superfluous to emphasize this point very strongly. His words 
deserve to be read, for they contain not only an interesting account 
of the history of sacred eloquence, but, at the same time, a warning 
which, in view of other aberrations, might even now be eminently 
in place. 

" Sailer writes : ' In that school there, under the great linden tree 
in the public square, in that private walk or wherever you will, 
you may take the occasion, as often as you will, to enlighten the 
farmer about the lightning rod and the cowpox and the cultivation 
of clover and of trees, in order to remove the manifold prejudices 
from his mind, in a friendly and an effective manner. But the 
Christian pulpit should be dedicated to the doctrines of eternal 
life. Thus your parishes should be taught to perceive how dark- 
ness,, sin, and death should be turned away from humanity, how 



656 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



temptation, which inoculates the sons and the daughters of the 
country, is fostered, how the germs of religion should be nurtured, 
how the plant of eternal life should be cultivated. Everything in 
its place : the eternal in the doctrinal chair of the eternal, the tem- 
poral in the seat of secular learning. I have pitied the old man who 
is to die tomorrow and who, hearing today the last sermon in a 
Christian Church, would be anointed for a Christian death by your 
word of God — if he must hear you preach on the cultivation of 
clover and on cowpox! I felt sorry for the mother who would 
learn from you how to rear her children in the fear of the Lord, and, 
instead, you exhort her how to raise sound fruit by the planting 
of new trees! I had commiseration for the widow who, with the 
prophetess Anna, would love to see the salvation of the world and 
hoped to find in you a Simeon who would depict to her the salva- 
tion of the world in Christ, and now must follow you in your chase 
after the prejudices of stall-feeding and hear nothing on Sundays 
of God and of Christ, on the feast-days of eternal life, nothing of 
the eternal life! Oh, if Christ were to visit our German preachers 
as a Visitator generalise methinks that not even heavenly love 
could restrain the lash to purify the temples of God from these 
preachers. Have we really become so sensual, so worldly, so ani- 
malistic, so profane, that even in the hour of devotion we must 
hear nothing but what is of the kingdom of the five senses, of 
earth, of animals, and of time?'" 1 This is historically interesting. 
Nevertheless, it is of great advantage if the modern preacher will 
critically examine the selection of his theme, according to the 
following view-points: 
We should not preach 

1. whatever is not, in some sense, the word of God; whatever 
does not give, affect, nourish, and foster directly or indirectly super- 
natural life; whatever does not relate, in some introductory or 
explanatory manner, to the word of God — that we should not 
preach. We should not preach 

2. all that is not pure truth, f.i., distorted concepts of dogma, 
risky, rigoristic, and lax opinions, etc. In apologetic sermons and 
addresses it is, however, of great advantage to point out likewise 
the limits of freedom. Thus it might be of great advantage, dealing 
with a somewhat cultured audience, to explain wherein the in- 
structive essence of the hexaemeron consists — what science has 

1 Sailer, Neue Beitraege zur Bildung der Geistlichen, vol. I, p. 14. 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 657 



discovered concerning the origin of the world — and how theologians 
reconcile the doctrine of the Bible and the results of investigations 
and to gather all into one whole. It might be advantageous to 
permit a hasty glance into the various theories concerning the last 
theme, though much herein is far from being established truth. A 
glance into the whole demeanor of the Church, into the freedom 
and pleasure of the investigation which the Church fosters and into 
the grand divine work of the theologians, might act very 
advantageously upon religious thought and life. The latter is 
decisive in the selection of the substance. Furthermore, we must 
avoid 

3. all that is not established truth, therefore all risky and 
justly questioned assertions, practically unfruitful academic ques- 
tions and doctrinal opinions, learned systems of individuals, etc. 
We must also avoid 

4. all that has not Christian sanctification for its aim and does 
not work for edification and amelioration of life. Among these 
unedifying subjects may be counted the too worldly, unpathetic 
concepts and presentations of Christian truths, f.i., from a purely 
philosophical, political, belletristic, artistic, economic standpoint, 
as, f.i., when Christianity is represented merely and principally as 
a means of civilization and terrestrial happiness, as the cradle of 
art, as the bulwark of civil order against socialism, etc., as if it 
were only for this world and its doctrines a mere philanthropic 
theory of happiness. These sides of religious truths and facts have 
indeed their great value — but only in conjunction with and as an 
attendant phenomenon of the supernatural essence. (Compare 
our explanations of religion and culture, pp. 104, 105; 126, 127; 
144, 145; 551 sqq.) Therefore we must exclude 

5. real political discussions and those relating to the history of 
civilization, also the agricultural, medicinal, natural-philosophical 
or otherwise profane argumentations. Profane knowledge may, 
of course, occasionally be utilized to advantage in the develop- 
ment of Christian doctrine, but the real source of proofs, of the 
motives and of explications, must ever be sought and found in 
revelation. 

Corollary I. The clergy and politics. 1. Religion must penetrate 
all human conditions, the interior and exterior, the private and the 
public. But this is done not in a noisy and a pretentious manner. Re- 
ligion acts everywhere, but, like the mustard-seed, which grows quietly 



658 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



to maturity, and like the leaven, which leavens all things in silence and 
perseveringly. 

2. Religion, therefore, stands in close relation to politics. The 
oft-heard saying: religion and politics have nothing in common, is sense- 
less. But a forcible entry of politics into pastoral work, joined with 
a disregard and neglect of the pastoral care of all the members of the 
parish, would be absolutely wrong. The great questions of religion and 
the fundamental principles of politics grow from the same root. Politics 
are founded and rooted in justice. Justice again is of an ethic nature, 
i.e., intimately related to morals. But morals are not autonomous, not 
separated from God. Morals have God as their last and deepest founda- 
tion, therefore also justice and politics. " Religion, morality, right, 
and politics form an inseparable chain." 

Two principles, however, of religion and politics are mutually inter- 
woven in innumerable questions. 

(a) "There is a natural law:" i.e., laws may not be made arbitrarily 
according to might, inclination, or whim, or according to a mere regard 
of cultural development; human laws must correspond with the ideas, 
the rights, and the demands of sound human nature, of sound human 
reason. The right of the State and the legislature must be built upon 
the natural right and develop and complete it. The State is a sort of an 
extended family: which, however, must guard the primal cell of social 
life — the family — as the apple of its eye. (See p. 545 sqq.) 

(b) "There is an ecclesiastical law:" i.e., the Church of Christ is an 
independent, perfect, sovereign society and power. We are not the 
sons of a bondwoman, as St. Paul strikingly remarks, but the sons of a 
freewoman, of the free Church, the free Bride of Christ. The Church 
must maintain her sacred rights and put them into practise as may be 
necessary, useful, and possible in accordance with the conditions of the 
present day. 

3. The Church is more than a party. The Church is not a political 
or a social party in which, in the first place, Christian principles and the 
defense of the rights of the Catholic Church are inscribed on its banner. 
But the Church of today needs a party which, in the full sense of the 
word, is friendly to and active for Catholicity — in other words: the 
Church needs men who in parliament, in offices, and in the government 
will defend the requirements of sound human nature and of the Church 
of Christ — who make the leaven of Christianity also active in public 
life. In this sense the Church pictures to herself a party which, as a 
community of Catholic men, is active in behalf of the religious and social 
interests of public life. And for this she is grateful. Whether or not 
this party bear the express name "Catholic" depends on circumstances. 
Generally speaking, it is better to avoid this name, since the party is 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 659 



not only to represent religious interests, but is bound to a universal 
positive co-operation in the terrestrial welfare, in a Christian spirit and 
according to the condition of the times. The Church may even require 
an organization in this sense and designate it as a duty of Catholics. 
But the individual Catholics are also bound to defend the principles, 
the demands, and the views of life as denned by the Church in the sphere 
of the family and of the school, in popular and state life, by advice and 
by deed, and especially at the polls. The Catholic cannot say: I have 
nothing whatever to do with politics. True, there are many questions 
which may be differently considered in the light of clear and calm reason 
and also in the light of religion; there the great principle prevails: in 
dubiis libertas, in omnibus charitas. Herein precisely does the noble 
combination between religion and politics consist: that Catholic prin- 
ciples control all things, that mere expediency, momentary advantage 
or disadvantage should never decide primarily — but that in cases where 
different conditions, characters, positions, classes, and circumstances per- 
mit also different conceptions, that there broad-minded liberty prevails. 
Where the spirit of God is, there is liberty, says the Apostle. He means, 
of course, liberty from error and sin, but also freedom from anxiety, 
from stereotyped control and narrow-mindedness. 

4. When there is question of religious principles, therefore, and 
especially concerning the preservation, salvation, and fostering of reli- 
gion and of the moral principles of the parish and of the country, then 
the pastor of souls and the preacher must not be silent. He is obliged, 
in virtue of his office, to guard and to protect the foundation of public 
Christian life, on which alone healthy politics can be established. 

5. Questions which do not touch the foundations of religion or 
morality are to be viewed differently. Concerning these the pastor 
may form his convictions as an individual and member of the community, 
discuss for his parishioners, either asked or unasked, the expediency 
of his personal views on the temporal and common weal, and solve 
doubts or difficulties connected therewith. But he may not do this with 
the authority and means of his office : such politics are not for the pulpit 
nor for the confessional: a party man the pastor should never be. 

6. Elections concerning principles should never be a matter of 
indifference to the pastor of souls. As a priest and the adviser of his 
people he must be solicitous about the election of representatives and 
deputies who maintain a lively interest for the high, and at times the 
highest, good of society and of the Church, which may have to be neces- 
sarily considered, and they should be ever ready for their defense. But 
the relative activity of the pastor of souls should not manifest itself 
through agitatorial proceedings and in direct polemics against the 
danger- threatening candidate, but rather through a solid development 



66o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of the Christian program and through the influence of his personal 
respect and confidence among the people. 

The pastor of souls must observe most carefully, in matters of this 
kind, his own Catholic sense of duty concerning participation in elec- 
tions, and make known to the people — as necessity requires — their 
duties, in a prudent manner. 

7. If there is a question, as is often the case, especially in smaller 
parishes, concerning mere personal matters, in which the religious point 
of moment is placed in the background, then the pastor of souls should 
not lend himself as an agitator, and this from a consideration of the care 
of souls, which he must foster in behalf of all the members of his parish. 

8. It may also occur that Catholic men leave, for one reason or an- 
other, an organization of a Catholic party, or of a party which hitherto 
defended the rights of Catholics. Such men should not be judged or 
treated by the pastor, at the outset, as if they were excluded from the 
Church. The care of souls requires a much broader charity in such 
cases than is possible in such really necessary party discipline. The 
pastor of souls should, in like manner, regard the oft recurring fact that 
many men and families follow, through the force of education, custom, 
and old traditions, or even through human fear, party directions, which 
are fundamentally uncatholic or, at least, less favorable to Catholic 
life, but still are not easily recognized, in wide circles, as inimical to 
religion. Wherever there is question, in matters of this import, of wide 
circles and of entire classes of people, there religious explanations, in a 
more limited sense, are mightily necessary. The calm, dogmatic, and 
catechetic sermon, if adapted in form and speech in regard to place, 
time, and occasion, to the needs of the place and of the time, is a grand 
religious power. The relative popularization of the entire Catholic 
catechism possesses within itself something really irresistible. This is 
the first, the greatest, and the most necessary work. Many are in this 
way cured of ignorance, prejudice, and indifference. Many draw thus 
the full extent of the consequences for private and public life, for religion 
and morality, for private life and for politics; they finally unite and 
organize. They constitute in a measure the most beautiful, but by far 
not the only, exclusive fruit. Others again retain to the hour of their 
death or to some decisive event in their lives (a mission, or some mis- 
fortune) faith as a principle of conversion. Some, in consequence of 
the continued interest and the constantly rising and emphasized expla- 
nations of religion, never become completely enfeebled by religious 
lethargy, and thus they receive innumerable graces which lead, possibly 
slowly, but surely, to a great interior conflict, which finally ends in 
faith and in the life of faith. If, with all this, the rest of pastoral means 
are put in activity and the laity also do their duty, then a wholesome 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 661 



progress will ensue. Under such circumstances that wise principle of 
pastoration, which our Saviour revealed to us, should never be forgotten: 
"So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the 
earth, and should sleep, and rise, night and day, and the seed should 
spring and grow up, whilst he knoweth not. For the earth of itself 
bringeth forth fruit, first the blade, then the ear, afterwards the full 
corn in the ear. And when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he 
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." (Mark 4: 26-30.) 

9. The pastor of souls and the preacher will then find the middle 
way to a practical and pastoral relation of religion and politics when 
they combine, with a constant view of their own gifts as well as of the 
local conditions and experiences, with the clear ideas of the relation between 
politics and religion, and the highest principles of pastoral love and of 
pastoral prudence. 

(a) The pastor has charge of the care of the souls of all of the mem- 
bers of the parish. 

(b) The preacher and the pastor of souls should not place a barrier 
preventing his access to the dying, to those who stand aloof through 
intemperate political severity. 

(c) The pastor of souls and the preacher should not foster anti- 
religious parties and press indirectly — through false prudence. They 
are rather obliged to foster the defense of religion and its consequences 
in public affairs with all their power, directly and indirectly, in the 
pulpit, in societies, in the press, and in public life — under a wise con- 
sideration of the particular circumstances. Withal, the pulpit is not 
a political platform. 

With the above explanations we believe we have distinguished 
rightly, viewed from the standpoint of homiletics and pastoral theology, 
the hazy and ensnaring catchword of religious and political Catholicism. 

Corollary II. Conferences. So-called conferences and religious 
discourses, in the broader sense, cannot generally supplant the regular 
sermon. But, under certain circumstances, f.i., in cities, in greater 
industrial places, in parishes of great concourse, these become often 
intensely practical means of pastoral care and not infrequently a real 
necessity. Conferences and religious addresses should not develop mere 
natural truths or mere questions concerning the history of civilization, 
or merely the social side of religion. The development of purely natural 
truths and of praeambula fidei, also of cultural questions, is, of course, 
very much advertised in such addresses, even at times necessary. But 
the speaker should pass from the natural to the supernatural, and grad- 
ually present the entire religion of Christ in its fundamental lines, and 
defend and explain it in a triumphant and striking manner. 

These addresses and conferences may either be of a dogmatic or an 



662 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



apologetic or historical character. The most modern objections might 
be here more fully considered on the basis of a solid positive argumenta- 
tion than is possible in a sermon. Such conferences may develop, to 
great advantage also, the Catholic view of God and of the world, in 
great but still interesting details, and in a richly colored general view 
of solid material of proof. The general degree of culture of the audience 
and also the cultural position of individuals must be wisely considered 
in this case. If such addresses are formed into a regularly recurring 
institution, they often develop into a kind of a religious-scientific popular 
university. 

Oftentimes these conferences assume a character of spiritual exercises. 
Religious-ascetic and scientific addresses might be connected into one 
whole, with considerable advantage, when, f.i., based upon the trend of 
the Ignatian Exercises: thus, the aim of religious-scientific exposition 
and interior renovation of life is effected in a very fruitful manner 
through the reception of the sacraments and by the impressions made 
upon the character. 

But if a mission or spiritual exercises or mission-sermons have been 
recently given in the parish, then, upon the more cultured part of the 
population, and especially on men, will religious-scientific addresses 
act most fruitfully, even without religious exercises as a change. The 
religious-scientific development of the entire Christian view of the world 
or of its principal themes, apologetic addresses, the demarcation of 
nature and revelation, biblical, historical, religio-philosophical, cultural 
themes often permit the preacher to approach the hearers in a closer 
and unique manner, more than could be done in the pulpit; but such 
institutions should never supplant the pulpit. 

Conferences require, through culture, a discernment of the trend of the 
times and certain loftier rhetorical gifts, in the deliverer. We desire, 
however, on this occasion again to recall to mind the oft-recommended 
and immensely beneficent popular missions and spiritual exercises for 
the people and for the various stations in life, which missions and exer- 
cises cannot be supplanted by anything else. 

§ 2. Second Question 

What themes, generally speaking, are proper for Preaching? 

After all that has been fundamentally considered and estab- 
lished, in the course of these studies, we may consider this question 
very briefly. The contents of the sermon should be, positively 
considered, simply the word of God in the fullest sense of the word, 
with all its necessary and fruitful assumptions, deductions, gifts, 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 663 



graces, and requirements. The entire depositum fidei should, there- 
fore, constitute the subjects of sermons. All doctrines and fruit- 
ful developments of the depositum are infinitely valuable: Verbum 
tuum Domine super aurum et topazion. 

The word of God should, therefore, never be minimized, watered, 
or circumscribed. (Minimism.) 

The whole doctrine of Christ, the whole Catholic catechism is 
to be preached. We have more fully expressed ourselves upon 
these respective practical duties of a pastor or of rectors of churches, 
in the treatise on the practical selection of themes. (See especially 
P. 55 d.) 

But those truths which are the foundation of the entire religion and 
of many other doctrines, requirements, and institutions of the 
Church, as well as those that are theoretically and practically most 
important for the requirements of the times, should be more fully 
and primarily unfolded. This leads us to the third question: on 
the principal themes of sacred eloquence. 

§ 3. Third Question 

Which are the Principal Themes of Sermons? 

1. Supernatural truths. We must preach, above all, super- 
natural truths. We are the proclaimers of revelation, not of a 
natural religion. 

2. Necessitate medii and praecepti credenda. The preacher 
should, time and again, emphasize that which must necessarily 
be believed and known necessitate medii and necessitate praecepti, 
therefore, the substance of Catholicity. This should form, as it 
were, the skeleton of the sermon; to this the preacher must again 
and again return, but always in a new form and especially on great 
feasts. Compare our recommendations in the chapter on the prac- 
tical sermon, pp. 52-57, point 1. n. 1, 2, a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. Com- 
pare the remarks on feast-day sermons, p. 74, also the treatise on 
Epiphany, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter and Eastertide. 

3, The fundamental ideas: God, Christ, the Church. The 
preacher should, above ail, seek to implant indelibly into the mind 
of the Christian people, as we have already insisted, the notions of 
God, of Christ, and of the Church in their complete conception and 
with their touching, logical, and practical sequences, effects, and 
sentiments which affect the practical life so much: f.i., in order 



664 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



to be thorough Catholics we must, above all, never lose sight 
of these ideas: God, Christ, and the Church. Then the preacher 
should develop these three ideas — not in a tautological, silly talk, 
but in a concentrated popular proof of God, as a plainly visible and 
audible sermon on God by the world in and around us, as a richly 
colored and concrete proof of the divinity of Christ gathered from 
the concrete facts of the Gospel, and possibly arranged as a climax 
— as a proof of the establishment of the Church: Christ came on 
earth to establish the Church, and the Holy Ghost perfected her. 
(Developed from Holy Scripture and the primitive history of the 
Church.) All these points must then be directed toward striking, 
impressive, but brief applications, f.i., the fear of God, in opposition 
to the fear of men, and in opposition to worldliness — fidelity to 
the banner of Christ and of the Church. 

4. The main truths of the' catechism. Very advantageous are 
sermons based on the so-called "stem [Stamm] -catechism," or stem- 
catechesis, i.e., comprehensive sermons or catechesis on several of 
the principal parts of the catechism, or of its contents, f.i., the Ten 
Commandments of God, a transformation of man here and here- 
after; the Apostles' Creed — our sure guide through this world; or, 
the Apostles' Creed, our real enlightenment; the Church a guide, a 
mistress, a mother. Such various catechetical sermons may likewise 
be cycle sermons of a short series. It is often well to confine the 
main points of religion, or the themes indicated in 3 and 4 as well 
as similar ones, to one sermon. On this point compare the remarks 
on concentration and amplification, in the instruction on emo- 
tions. Plans for such cycles see above, pp. 303-334; § 31, Lenten 
sermons (methods), especially pp. 306 and 334 sqq.; § 32, Lenten 
sermons (plans of sketches). 

5. The idea of God. It is of an incalculable importance to 
bring the idea of God, in its fullest grandeur and majesty, exalta- 
tion, and loveliness, to the knowledge of the people. Hurter writes 
very appositely, in his appendix, Compendii Theologiae Dogmaticae 
complectens concionum argumenta {Oeniponte, Libraria Wagneriana, 
1 891): Summae utilitatis est populo christiano, etiam pro vita prac- 
tical ut ipse quam sublimissima de Deo singulisque ejusdem perfec- 
tionibus imbruatur idea. We will here recall several homiletic 
ways : 

(a) Often develop ex professo the idea of God from the grandeur 
of nature which God created, and from the exalted world of thoughts 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 665 



of Holy Scripture. The reading of the prophets Isaias and Baruch, 
of Ezekiel and Daniel and also of the Apocalypse will here furnish 
the preacher the richest stimulants. (Compare above, p. 73, the 
personality of God from nature, see also p. 100 sqq.; pp. 82-84, 
the power of the thought of God in Holy Scripture.) 

(b) Occasionally develop the grand thought of God, because 
the great and deeply conceived idea of God is the basis of the prac- 
tical conception of untold other religious truths and practical re- 
ligious revelations. Thus, f.i., the preacher who desires to bring 
closely home to the people how we are enabled to honor and to 
adore God worthily in the holy sacrifice of the mass (sacrifice of 
adoration, of adoration of God in spirit and in truth), will treat in 
a practical manner, if he first gathers ideas of God the Creator and 
combines them into a great, overwhelming picture, viewed from 
all sides, from the sprouting seed to the world of stars which the 
Creator has sowed like so many seeds, from the marvelously illu- 
minated eye and the ray of the sun which strikes it, to our immortal 
soul, from the infinitely small to the infinitely great and wide, there- 
fore from all the realms of the glorious creation. In addition to 
this he should illumine these human thoughts with appropriate 
passages from the Psalms and the prophets. (We have given indi- 
vidual examples enough, above p. 73 sqq., p. 82 sqq., pp. 103, 104.) 
During such a presentation of nature and its realms, the cry arises 
from all sides and worlds and from our own inner depth: Honor 
God , adore the Creator! (Compare p. 74.) Then the preacher 
should depict, in equally powerful lines, the poverty and the insuf- 
ficiency of our adoration and devotion, possibly in connection with 
the overpowering passage of Isaias, 40: 10 sqq. (See above, p. 85.) 

And still God desires and seeks adorers in spirit and in truth. 
The homilist should then depict the priest at consecration, the 
descent of the Son of God and of man, of our Brother in Whom the 
Father is well pleased, and he should unfold for the people a view 
into the exalted honor of God, which Jesus as man and as our 
Brother, but, at the same time, as God-man, offers to His Father: 
Ego honor ifico Pair em. (Compare, f.i., Gihr, the holy sacrifice of 
the mass; also our studies, p. 232.) Then he should describe to 
the people how we unite our adoration, glory, and praise with that 
of the Saviour; how we put into the hands of the Saviour — our 
first-born Brother — our veneration, and how with Him, through 
Him, and in Him we acknowledge God, in spirit and in truth, as 



666 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the first, the supreme, and the only true God, but we also acknowl- 
edge our misery, nothingness, and dependence. (Compare above, 
p. 233; the offering of myrrh on Epiphany; compare also Gihr, the 
holy sacrifice of the mass: a sacrifice of adoration.) Herewith the 
preacher should explain, f.i., the glorious ceremony after consecra- 
tion with the prayer: Per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso est tibi Deo 
Patri omnipotenti in unitate Spiritus Sancti omnis honor et gloria. 
Amen. With these words the priest carries the sacred host in 
his hands, in the glorious and full consciousness that now we 
accomplish through Christ a true honor and adoration in spirit 
and in truth. Precisely on the background of a grandly developed 
and popularized conception of God may such dogmatic exposition 
be entirely differently formed than by tedious academic presen- 
tations and long-spun platitudes. Of course, the theme must be 
limited, f.i. : the adoration of God in spirit and in truth — or : the 
adoration of God in consecration, or: What sort of adorers does 
the Father seek? Moral themes may also be most fruitfully devel- 
oped in a similar manner on the background of thoughts of God, f.i., 
the fear of God, prayer, etc. (Compare above, p. 103 sqq., pp. 126, 
127, 128, p. 231 sqq.) 

(c) The preacher should show, especially to the modern world, 
that all progress in science is really a word of God — and that with 
progressive culture unbelief becomes more and more inexcusable. 
(Compare the example above, p. 103, in connection with Genesis: 
n. 1, God's school and scholars.) 

(d) The preacher should develop, for the benefit of the modern 
world, especially also the relation of the creature to the Creator: 
hereby the fundamental error of the present day is refuted. Com- 
pare above, p. 103, on the hexaemeron, p. 112, on the idea of God in 
Deuteronomy, p. 233 (the offering of incense). He should enter 
deeply into the foundation of the Ignatian Exercises; or into 
Father Faber's The Creator and the Creature; Lessius, Be divinis 
perfectionibus; into the attributes of God as considered by the 
dogmatic writers, Hurter, Scheeben, and Heinrich; into the intro- 
ductory chapters of Schuster-Holzammer's Handbook of Bible His- 
tory, where he will find relative literature quoted. 

(e) The preacher should describe and depict the several attri- 
butes and perfections of God with touching and practical applica- 
tions. (Compare especially the dogma of Hurter, Rogacci, UUno 
necessario; Hettinger's Apologie, I. Vol. He will also find grand 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 667 



ideas in the writings of Dr. Schell. Among popular writings we 
recommend especially the Almanac of Alban Stolz: Bilderbuch 
Gottes; see also Erziehungskunst, pp. 73 sqq., 85 sqq., 155, 156 sqq., 
and the I. Vol. of the Meditations of De Ponte.) In the sermons and, 
especially, the cycle of sermons De Deo uno, the several sermons 
should not be overloaded, but should rather treat the individual 
attributes of God extensively, deeply, and each time with a prac- 
tical central application in connection with a biblical or dogmatic 
exposition. The attributes of God loom most gloriously in the 
Gospel in the person of Christ, and especially in the Gospels of many 
Sundays wherein the Church is presented to our consideration. 

(/ ) The preacher should especially emphasize the personality of 
God, which, in its immeasurable love hates nothing that it created, 
and hears and perceives the cry of need of every creature; — he 
should depict the ail-merciful, but also the eternally just God. 
Then he should ascend: 

(g) To the tri-personality of God and permit this overpowering 
mystery to act in all its grandeur upon the people. (Compare 
our plans in the paragraphs on Pentecost, the home of the Holy 
Ghost, and Trinity Sunday (p. 496 sqq., pp. 516, 518 sqq.) 

6. The principal theme: Christ Jesus. The main, the middle, 
and the substantial point and heart of the Catholic sermon is the Ever 
Blessed Person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

We shall first give a full account of the reasons of the principal 
theme. 

(a) This is taught by Holy Scripture, considered as a whole. 
All the lines of the Old and New Testament lead to Christ Jesus. 
We have shown that Holy Scripture is the book of Jesus Christ, 
and therefore that ignorantia Scripturarum means ignorantia 
Christi. (Compare, p. 99, § 5.) We have developed a detailed 
pragmatic-homiletic proof that the entire history of religion is a 
history of divine providence and a pedagogy in relation to Christ 
Jesus. (Compare, pp. 103-140, § 6 — continuation.) We have 
pointed extensively and repeatedly to the fact, which we have 
established, that the Gospels are really inspired chapters of the 
sermon on Christ Jesus, and that the whole account signifies Christ 
Jesus, the expected one of Israel and of the nations, the very acme 
of the Scriptures. (Compare our extensive sketches of the entire 
account of Christ Jesus, pp. 137-142, n. 21: Christ — the expected 
one of Israel and of the nations.) 



668 



HOMILETTC AXD CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(b) The same is taught by Holy Scripture in individual classical 
passages. Fundamentum aliud nemo potest ponere, praeter id, quod 
position est, quod est Jesus Christus. (I Cor. 3: 11; compare also, 
3: 12-21.) Judaei signa petunt et Graeci sapientiam quaerunt, nos 
autem praedicamus Christum crucifixum: Judaeis quidem scandal urn, 
gentibus autem stidtitiam, ipsis autem vocatis, Judaeis atque Graecis 
Christum Dei virtutem et Dei sapientiam. (I Cor. 1: 22 sqq.) Ac- 
cording to innumerable passages of Holy Scripture Christ is the 
founder of religion; the entire religion bears toward Him a funda- 
mentally essential relation; He is the head and the corner-stone of 
the redeemed; He continues to live in the Church; He continues 
to live in the sacraments; He desires to continue to live in all the 
faithful. Dogma, moral, and ascetics intend nothing else than 
that Jesus be formed in us: Filioli, quos iterum parturio, donee 
formetur in vobis Christus. (Gal. 4: 19.) 

.All our faith, hope, and charity, prayer, conflict, and labor, in 
and around us, is only a transformation into an image of Christ: 
Transformamur in eandem imaginem {Dei) a daritatejn claritatem. 
We paint the image of Christ in our souls through the imitation 
of Christ. We chisel it into our souls, piece by piece, by separat- 
ing ourselves from sin in view of the ideal picture of Christ. Christ 
controls all time and eternity. Christus heri et hodie, et in saecula! 
(Heb. 13: 8; see above, p. 142: end of the Scriptures.) 

[c] We are taught the same by the entire liturgy. We have 
pointed this out in a general way in the homiletic consideration of 
Holy Scripture (p. 15S), and also in the treatise on the relation of 
liturgy to the practical selection of the theme (p. 55 sqq.). The 
extensive and direct practical proof of the fact that Jesus Christ is 
really the main theme of the Catholic sermon we have given in 
our detailed and extensive treatise on the entire ecclesiastical year 
(p. 169, §§ 1-5, p. 570, § 74). 

id) That Christ Jesus is the main theme of the Catholic sermon 
is pointed out, likewise, by the universal and singular interest in 
Christ Jesus: the dogmatic, apologetic, ethical, cultural, rhetorical, 
and universal interest. 

(a) The dogmatic interest. All dogmas are rooted in Christ Jesus. 
Christ is the authority which stands back of every dogma. From the 
lips of Christ we receive every dogma, from the mouth of Christ proceeds 
even- truth. Christ is the foundation of our entire religion. Examples 
which show this, resting upon principles, are found in rich profusion 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 669 



in our exposition of the ecclesiastical year as a theme of sacred 
eloquence. 

(0) The rhetorical interest. Jesus is the incarnation and demonstra- 
tion of God Himself, the demonstration of the invisible and of the 
supernatural. Be verbo vitae manibus contrectavimus (I John 1:1); vidi- 
mus gloriam ejus (John 1 : 14) ; ut, duni visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per 
hunc in invisibilium amoreni rapiamur. We have seen Jesus in the 
high school of the Gospel, in the tabernacle, in the liturgy, in our midst; 
herein originates the rhetorical power of the image of Christ. This 
also afforded the great preachers irresistible power, f.i., St. Paul: "St. 
Paul is a firebrand, glowing through Christ. He is a storm in which 
Christ reveals His power. He is a book, but this book contains naught 
nor will it ever contain anything but Christ crucified. Jesus is the whole 
substance of the life of the Apostle Paul. Hereby he became the Apostle 
of the world, by the fact that Jesus became the substance of his life. . . . 
This substance of life he felt obliged to present to the whole world; 
he conceived Him to be the pleroma of all value and power. Paul is a 
rich, powerful, and fruitful mind; but his richness, his love, and his 
power is Christ. * Not I five, but Christ liveth in me. ' ' ' (Schell, Christus, 
P- I3-) 

(y) The apologetic interest. Precisely the modern world is greatly 
interested in Jesus, even in circles from which an interest in the Church 
has departed. In the Church there is much that is human; in Christ 
humanity is without a stain. The idea of Leo XIII, to celebrate the 
turning of the century with a great feast in honor of the Saviour, and, 
through the encyclical De Redemptore, to draw the attention of the 
world to the beginning point of the age, has a far-reaching homiletic 
significance. The Church is nothing else than the continually living 
Christ, with all His consequences and demands. Therefore, through 
Jesus will we interest, in the most fruitful and persevering manner, our 
contemporaries for the lifework of Christ, for the Church in her full 
dogmatic and rightful significance. The modern German-English 
cultured writer, Austin Stewart Chamberlain, says in his " Foundations 
of the Nineteenth Century : " " Our century is called irreligious ; never (?) 
(since the first Christian centuries) has the interest of man been so 
passionately concentrated in the person of Christ as in the past seventy 
years. . . ." (4 ed., I. Vol., p. 194). In another passage he calls Renan 
and . Strauss two concave mirrors, the one distorting all the fines 
(of Christ) lengthwise, the other on the surface: these men, however, 
had accomplished an important work, inasmuch as they had drawn the 
attention of thousands to the great miracle of the apparition of Christ 
and then prepared an audience for the more thorough thinkers and 
judicious men (p. 195). If unbelievers and circles standing far to the 



670 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



left, speak with such interest of Christ, if the protestant critical investi- 
gations, possibly under the guidance of Harnack, Holzmann, Jiilicher, 
Pfleiderer, and, one nearer to us, Zahn, turn the full measure of their 
work to the person of Christ and to primeval Christianity, — all those 
mentioned, except Zahn, are theologically destructive, and historically, in 
the most interesting evolution, always conservative — if, on the one hand, 
the evangelical reports are being constantly more openly and honestly 
recognized as old, genuine, and unadulterated, and on the other hand, 
however, are always interpreted more boldly, more subjectively, and pos- 
sibly in a new system of religious syncretism, then there is scarcely any- 
thing more appropriate than that the Catholic sermon, investigation, and 
science ascend very many and various pulpits with the image of Christ 
— never was there a more grateful audience granted the Catholic sermon 
on Christ, both in our own midst and far beyond, than precisely 
today. 

We consider this one of the most important, aye, in a certain sense, 
the very first and most important task of Catholicism in regard to the 
modern world. For Catholicism — let it be once more emphasized — 
is nothing else than Christ Jesus, the entire, complete Christ, with His 
person and His love, with His humanity and His divinity, with all His 
deductions and demands, with His kingdom from within and from with- 
out, with all His mustard and other seeds, with His all-pervading 
leaven. 

($) The ethical interest. In no person is dogma and moral, theory 
and practice, high and low, so closely connected as in Christ. The 
present day may merely recognize the humanity of Christ, but tear 
from Him the wreath of divinity. They desire His morals but not His 
person. His humanity is admitted, but not His supernatural love. 
Some of His words are selected, but His system of faith is rejected. 
Here we must preach the entire Jesus: represent Jesus as the divine 
motive and the ideal of natural and supernatural morals. 

(c) The universal interest. No one can ignore Jesus. He is placed 
as a sign to be contradicted. All must be engaged concerning Him. 
Even Pilate asked: Art Thou a King? And the twentieth century has 
no manifestation with which it would have to put itself more in opposi- 
tion than this. The writer on culture, directly opposed to us on mostly 
all questions, Austin S. Chamberlain, becomes the interpreter of a widely 
spread fundamental view, which likewise controls unbelieving circles, 
when he writes: "The birth of Christ is the most important date of the 
entire history of the human race; no battle, no governmental beginning, 
no natural phenomenon possesses such an importance, which might be 
compared to the brief terrestrial life of the Galilean. A history of 
nearly two thousand years proves this — it is highly justifiable to desig- 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 671 



nate that year as the year ' one, ' and from it begin to reckon our time. 
. . . Aye, we may say, in a certain sense, that real history begins with 
the birth of Christ." 

And after Chamberlain had developed the significance of the appear- 
ance of Christ for the new era, as the heritage of the old, he concludes 
the train of thoughts in the following words: "Now we see that the 
appearance of Christ, which is placed on the threshold of the old and 
the new era, does not present itself in so simple a form to our far-seeing 
eye, that we might easily separate it from the labyrinth of prejudices, 
lies, and errors. And yet, there is nothing more necessary to note more 
clearly and in perfect keeping with the truth, than precisely this appear- 
ance. For, no difference how unworthy we may prove ourselves, our 
entire culture is based, thank God, still on the sign of the cross of Gol- 
gotha. True, we see this cross; but who sees Him crucified? He, 
however, and He alone is the living fountain of all Christianity, of the 
intolerant dogmatician as well as of him who declares himself an un- 
believer. That this could be doubted, that our century could be nour- 
ished by books (of a Strauss and a Renan) in which it is maintained that 
Christianity is the growth of mere chance, a mere accident, a mythologi- 
cal access, a dialectic antithesis or a what not, or again a necessary pro- 
duction of Judaism, etc., this in later times will be an eloquent witness 
of the childishness of our judgment." (I. Vol., p. 250.) In the same 
connection of thought is found another expression of this really modern 
writer. "If there be not (proceeding from Christ) soon amongst us a 
powerful regeneration of ideal thoughts and a real specific religious one 
. . . coming from the words and the view of the crucified Son of Man, a 
religion directly convincing . . . actual, plastically beautiful, eternally 
true and pure, so that we be forced to give ourselves up to it, as does a 
woman to her lover, without questioning and enthusiastically," then 
Chamberlain fears a universal upheaval or something like a wholesale 
return to Catholicism, which he, of course, would paint in dark colors: 
"from the shadow of the future shall arise a second Innocent III and a 
new IV. Lateran council. ... For the world, even the German, would 
rather throw itself into the arms of the syro-egyptian mysteries (he 
probably means the Catholic sacramental life and liturgy) than be edi- 
fied at the twaddle of ethic societies and such like." Amidst such modern 
homesickness after Christ, in the pressure from every direction and party, 
to adopt Christ for themselves and to transform Him into their own 
ideas, and amid the unbounded confusion of notions concerning Christ 
and Christianity, it becomes really an exalted and fruitful and a grateful 
task to develop, at all times, the true image of the Christ of the Gospels 
and to unfold Catholicism as the directly convincing, eternally true and 
ever new religion, which proceeds from Golgotha, and to which we may 



672 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



give ourselves unquestioningly in the light of Christ. To this the 
following methods will lead. 

(e) The people should be inducted into the life of Christ assidu- 
ously and systematically, and therefore should the preacher exercise 
himself in the description of the life of Christ. The models for 
this are the Gospels themselves of which we can never learn enough. 
They are inspired chapters of the sermons of the Apostles. Thus 
did the Apostles put the person of Christ into the foreground of 
their sermons. 

(/) The people ought be shown, especially on great feasts and 
during festive periods, facts of the life of Christ and their dogmatic 
and moral mysteries: the divinity, the incarnation, the Passion, 
the atonement, the resurrection, the Ascension, and on such days 
extraneous themes should not be treated. Consult for this pur- 
pose good dogmatic writers, especially the Summa of St. Thomas, 
good theological text-books, f.i., Deharbe and Willmers, good feast 
and mystery sermons, f.i., Leo the Great, in the breviary, Bossuet, 
Bourdaloue, Monsabre, Foerster, Ehrler, Eberhard; consult like- 
wise good explanations of the life of Jesus, f.i., Grimm, Meschler. 

We have expressed ourselves, in detail, theoretically and prac- 
tically, in the homiletic development of the ecclesiastical year, 
and also in the therewith connected practical hints and plans very 
extensively on the various methods of sermons on Christ. We 
refer to the entire second chapter of Book IV., p. 166 sqq., 
§ 1, to p. 570, § 74. 

It would certainly be an immensely fruitful homiletic plan to 
deliver sermons on Christ during an entire ecclesiastical period 
or even during a full ecclesiastical year. The following paragraphs 
of our treatise on the ecclesiastical year might, besides the exposi- 
tion of the principal feasts and Sundays, serve as a guide: § 11 
(p. 200 sqq.); § 15 (p. 223); § 64 (p. 506 sqq.); § 74 (p. 564 sqq.). 

In connection with the entire presentation of the reasons for a 
repeated and universal treatment of the principal theme, Christ 
Jesus, we shall give a few special directions for the sermon on 
Christ. Practical proofs are numerously found in the paragraphs 
on the ecclesiastical year; therefore, we may be very brief. 

(a) The preacher should often deliver homilies on Sundays 
with the objective view of making the Saviour known to the people 
through the explanation of the pericope, His person, one or the 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 673 



other lovingly explained characteristics of His life, His heart, His 
character, His humanity, His divinity. (Compare our explana- 
tions on the practical selection of themes, under the guidance of 
the liturgy, the paragraphs on the ecclesiastical year, and the 
homilies.) 

(0) The preacher should endeavor in all sermons to reduce 
the dogma, the commandment, the institutions of the Church 
back to Christ. This should be done expressly in dogmas and 
doctrines which are especially contested, f.i., in sermons on the 
Church, the papacy, grace, purgatory, the sacramentals, indul- 
gences, etc. (Compare, f.i., p. 137 sqq., p. 162 sqq., p. 308 sqq.) 

(y) Single citations of the words of the Saviour should not 
merely be given, but they should be lovingly, popularly, and exeget- 
ically explained. It should be greatly impressed upon the people — 
Who it was that spoke thus and what it means. Characteristic 
sketches of the life of Jesus should often be interwoven with these 
citations and connected therewith, so that the word and the person 
of the Saviour may act simultaneously upon the hearers. (Com- 
pare, f.i., pp. 308, 309, and p. 418 sqq.) 

(g) Very fruitful is also the effect of sermons on Christ which 
compress, in one triumphant concentration, the entire significance 
of Christ or several of the principal points of the life of Christ 
into one sermon. A series of such view-points we have given above 
when we described, in a short sketch, the entire image of Christ 
from Holy Scripture (pp. 13 7-1 41). Such themes are adapted for 
more extensive festive sermons and conferences. We refer to the 
later apologetic works of Hettinger, Schanz, and Gutberlet, to 
the concluding meditations of the Life of Jesus by Meschler, to 
the Christus of Hermann Schell, to sermons of Foerster, Eberhard, 
P. Roh, and also to many other modern conferences and missionary 
preachers. We finally would remind the preacher of the many 
striking, exegetic, pedagogic, and homiletic monographs. 

7. Mary. A theme that touches every Catholic heart mightily 
is a sermon on Mary. On the very first pages of the Bible the 
image of Mary appears as: the woman who is to bring forth the 
Saviour and to crush the head of the serpent. Upon the most 
memorable pages of the books of the prophets Mary is again de- 
picted, in the distress of Israel and of the world, giving — as Vir- 
gin and Mother — a Redeemer. The history of the youth of Jesus 
in the New Testament opens with an image of Mary : Mary brings 



674 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



us, indeed, as the Mother of God, the Redeemer of the world. 
Aye, the first events of the New Covenant and of the life of Jesus 
appear completely in the Marian light, especially in the loveliest 
of^all books, the Gospel of St. Luke. In the beginning of the 
public life of Jesus Mary occasioned His first miracle, and at the 
end she stands as His and our Mother beneath the cross. Finally 
we see the primeval Church gathered around Mary, the Mother of 
Jesus. The entire grand dogma concerning Mary, the history of 
the ecclesiastical and private veneration of Mary confirm the great 
Catholic principle: Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother. 
Mary has brought and still brings Jesus and with Him all things. 
Through Mary we go to Jesus! The real veneration of Mary is, 
at the same time, a moral and ascetic focus of humility, of faith, 
of purity, of love, and of conversion. Therefore every good sermon 
on Mary is a central shot and a pedagogic lesson that leads directly 
to Christ, a school of faith, of love, of cordiality, and of Catholic 
fidelity. 

Sermons on Mary are among the principal homiletic themes. 
They consist of the very center of the Christian religion, and are 
well adapted to arouse the Catholic people to a zealous religious 
life. Nevertheless they belong to the more difficult homiletic 
tasks. We are loath to refrain from an extensive treatment of 
this subject here, especially since we were only able to sketch very 
briefly the Marian feasts in our presentation of the ecclesiastical 
year. 1 

We shall merely consider the topology of the Marian homiletics 
here very briefly. 

A. Exegetic Marian sermons. The Holy Scripture on the Blessed 
Virgin. Above all other sources that of Holy Scripture should be 
used, and the several accounts of the life of the Mother of God 
should be studied and formed in a homiletic style. Excellent 
matter for this is found, especially in Grimm's Life of Jesus, also 
Meschler's, and in Dr. Al. Schaefer's Maria in der hi. Schrift. 2 
We furthermore recommend: Scherer's Bibliotheke fur Prediger, 
VI. B.:Die Feste Mariae; for a real critical use also the very 
stimulating volumes in August Nicolas' new studies on Christianity, 
under the title of Maria, translated from the French (into Ger- 

1 See Mayenberg's supplement, on the homiletic presentation of Mariology. 
2 " Mary in Holy Scripture" — which is being now translated by the translator 
of this work. 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 675 



man) by Reiching, Regensburg, Manz, i860, 4 vols, (see also 
the translation by Heister). In conjunction with these use several 
commentaries on the most striking passages and scenes. It is a 
great error to think that the Holy Scriptures contain but little on 
the Mother of God. A really astounding wealth of thought on 
Mary is concealed in Holy Scripture. It requires a knowledge of 
how to strike water from the rocks, with the above mentioned 
means. Besides the works mentioned, the study of dogmatic 
Mariology, f.i., in Scheeben's dogma (Vol. Ill), will open entirely 
new view-points, also concerning that of Holy Scripture. Homi- 
letic treatises of biblical scenes and sayings of the life of Mary, 
in the first place, are precisely recommended for sermons on Mary. 
We shall recall merely a few biblical events, in short sketches, which 
are adapted for single sermons or cycles, f.i., for May devotion. 

The mystery: The annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. 1. The 
name of Mary (Luke 1: 27. See Grimm, The Life of Jesus. Excurs., 

1. Vol., p. 43. Dr.A. Schaefer, Mary in the Holy Scripture, p. 131-134). 

2. Mary saluted by the angel. 3. Mary becomes the Mother of God. 
4. Mary lauded by Elisabeth as the Mother of the Redeemer. 5. Mary 
glorifying God on account of the redemption, in the Magnificat (in two 
sermons). The preacher will find extraordinarily rich material in the 

1. Vol. of The Life of Jesus by Grimm; in Dr. Schaefer: Mary in Holy 
Scripture; also in Meschler. 

Mary in the first chapter of St. Luke. 1. The coming of the angel. 

2. The angelic salutation. 3. The holy transaction, (a) Explanations 
concerning the Mother of God. (b) Explanations concerning the Son 
of God. 4. The holy transaction, (a) The doubt, (b) The solution of 
the doubt. 5. The consent. (Compare herewith, f.i., Heb. 10: 5-8 and 
the ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Compare 
mutatis mutandis, pp. 57, 58, 59, and cf. Christmas, pp. 216 sqq., 188-189.) 
6. The confirmation in the house of Elisabeth, (a) by the Holy Ghost, 
and the miraculous event, (b) by the salutation of Elisabeth and her 
declarations, (c) by Mary's Magnificat. 

The mystery of the visitation of Mary. Mary's visit to Elisabeth 
considered in a cycle. (A single event of the life of Mary.) 1. The 
going of the Mother of Christ into a mountainous country, (a) Steps 
of cheerful, humble faith, (b) Steps of a serving love. 2. The saluta- 
tion of the Mother of Christ and the first act of Christ. (Luke 1 : 40, 41.) 

3. The salutation of Elisabeth, a prophetess filled with the Holy Ghost. 
(a) On the act of Christ, (b) In behalf of the Mother of God and espe- 
cially: (a) on her dignity; (/?) in regard to her person; faith is the basis 



676 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of her entire personal greatness, v. 42-46). 4. The song of Mary in the 
house of Elisabeth (the Magnificat), (a) Mary's prayer in the house of 
Elisabeth (Luke 1: 47, 48, 50, 51.) (b) Mary's humility in the house 
of Elisabeth (v. 48, 52, 53, 54, 55). (c) Mary's prophecy in the 
house of Elisabeth : Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes , 
v. 48 (fulfilled to this day and will be in all eternity). 

Another sketching of the Magnificat: the hymn of thanksgiving 
for the grand deeds of God: 

(a) A hymn of thanksgiving for the grand deeds of God toward and 
in Mary. Grateful rejoicing of Mary in the greatness of her dignity 
as Mother of God and in the humility of her person as an humble creature 
of humble circumstances: humilitas ancillae suae (Luke 1 : 46, 47, 48, 49). 

(b) Grateful rejoicing of Mary over the grand act of God toward the 
world — the incarnation of Christ (see above, p. 216, 238 sqq.). (a) 
The incarnation is an act of the omnipotence of God: fecit magna qui 
potens est. . . . Fecit potentiam in brachio suo. It is (fi) an act of the 
holiness of God, which removes the unholy, sin, and communicates to 
man some of the divine sanctity (grace) and incites to holiness and 
animates and directs thereto: et sanctum nomen ejus. The sanctity of 
God sends forth its rays from the incarnation, from God's holy essence, 
God's holy name in its entire divine glory. The incarnation is (y) an 
act of the mercy of God : it was then and ever will be to the end of time : 
et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies. But this mercy is only mani- 
fested in those who show a co-operation, timentibus eum, to those who 
fear God, who return to the fear of God, who practise penance and 
fidelity to the divine law (p. 254 sqq.). The incarnation is according to 
the words of Mary (8) an act of God's judgment. It effects the downfall 
of the proud, of the self-righteous, of the self-sufficient, of those in whom 
not God governs, but their own Ego, their own honor, their own power 
or whim and passion, be they individuals or entire kingdoms or nations. 
Compare the history of the preparation for Christ (f.i., p. 115, 11.), the 
history of Christ Himself, and the history of the Church of Christ, and 
also the history of individual men and hearts : deposuit potentes de sede 
. . . dispersit superbos mente cordis sui (Luke 1, 51-54). But the 
incarnation also effects the salvation and the redemption of the humble 
who acknowledge their own unworthiness, their own sins, their own 
spiritual hunger and thirst after justice, who, in reality, seek a Saviour, 
who grasp the redemption and the grace of Christ and unite it with their 
own full and complete power, who are, therefore, sufficiently humble 
to bow before the word of Christ and of the Church, to accept the grace 
of Christ, to receive the sacraments, to adopt cheerfully the precepts of 
Christ, the precept of the Sunday, the precept of confession, of Friday, 
of marriage, and all the precepts that daily bind us. Of all these it is 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 677 



said: exaltavit humiles . . . esurientes implevit bonis (Luke 1: 51-54). 
The incarnation is (e) an act of fidelity of God; especially in regard to 
Israel His servant, but also toward all His people, since God — in view 
of His promises to Abraham and to the Fathers — fulfilled and redeemed 
His word in His mercy. The preacher should recall some of the most 
important promises and their fulfilment, in great outlines, as far as they 
are now fulfilled in the incarnation of the Son of God (a complete expla- 
nation) , and in as far as they will be fulfilled later in the lif e of Jesus and 
Mary and in their continued life and works (a hurried glance at several 
points of interest). Luke 1: 54, 58. Suscepit Israel ... to the end. 
These points thus sketched might form a subdivision of one or two 
sermons, and also independent sermons. 

Another conception of the mystery of the visitation, in conjunction 
with the presentation in the temple, would be the following: 

The first annunciation of the event of the incarnation in a Jewish 
house: by Elisabeth and Mary. (Mary in the house of Elisabeth: (a) 
Elisabeth's salutation to Mary; (b) Mary's salutation to the whole 
world. Fundamental thought of the Magnificat.) 

The first annunciation of the incarnation in the Jewish temple. 

(a) The morning offering of Mary with Jesus. (See p. 57.) (b) The 
morning sermon of Simeon concerning Mary and Jesus. 

Another conception : Mary at the presentation in the temple. The 
morning sacrifice of Jesus and Mary (see above, pp. 57, 58). 

Mary and the quiet life of Jesus. (Compare Meschler's Life of 
Jesus: Mary and the youthful life of Jesus, I. Vol., p. 174 sqq. Com- 
pare also the hidden life of Jesus, p. 168 sqq.) f.i.: 1. Mary's position in 
regard to the youthful life of Jesus. 2. Mary's activity in this position 
(Meschler, p. 174-179). A central application: What follows from this? 
or 1. The works of this life: (a) Mary's service to Jesus at Nazareth. 

(b) Mary's work in the family of Nazareth, (c) Mary's extraordinary 
experience in Jerusalem. 2. Mary's thoughts in this life. Or: Mary's 
quiet life at Nazareth (according to the encyclicals of the Rosary by 
Leo XIII, of 1893; see the feast of the Rosary, p. 559, and the family- 
feast, p. 244 sqq.; see p. 557 c). 

Mary and the public life of Jesus, (a) Mary is heard before the 
hour of Jesus had arrived [in the temple of Jerusalem, in the place of 
the Messiah, for a solemn revelation], [her intercessory exaltation — 
Cana, John 2 : 3 sqq.] (b) Mary is turned down, for His hour is come 
(her humility) . Jesus turns her away : (a) Since the mother must with- 
draw, so that the mystery of the Son of God may be divined and grasped; 
(£) since the mother may withdraw because her faith is already perfect. 
Jesus said solemnly on that occasion: Behold my mother and my breth- 
ren. Whoever doeth the will of my Father, he is my brother and sister 



678 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and mother. (Luke 8: 10-21; Mark 3: 31-35; Matt. 12: 46-50). But 
no one had heard or weighed the words of Jesus better than Mary. 
Several times does the Gospel testify of her: Maria autem conservabat 
omnia haec, conferens in corde suo: no one was more faithful in doing the 
bidding of Jesus than was Mary: her grand principle was: Ecce ancilla 
Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. The apparent turning away 
was her greatest praise. To Jesus she was not merely a real Mother. 
But she was also nearer to Him interiorly and mentally "as brother 
and a sister and mother." Her exalted maternal dignity had to step 
back for the moment, so that the divinity of Jesus might stand forth un- 
impeded. But amidst separation and abandonment her interior mental 
motherhood grew, and her inner relationship with Jesus became most 
sublime and heroic. Only after the divinity of Jesus had been revealed 
to the whole world, only then was her supernatural and real maternity 
to be acknowledged and honored by the whole world. In solitude she 
is the follower of Christ, apparently separated from Him; in time she 
will be a guide leading to Jesus, inseparable from Him. 

Mary and the death of Jesus, (a) Mary's compassion, (b) Mary's 
co-operation. Or: (a) Mary witnesses the Passion of Jesus (depict 
according to Holy Week, with an exegesis on Mary), (b) Mary hears 
the words of Jesus, (c) Mary receives the body of Jesus (an evening 
picture; compare the Friday of Sorrows). 

Mary and the Risen Jesus. Holy Scripture says nothing of the 
apparition of the Risen Jesus to Mary. It reports the grand proof of 
the witnesses. The Blessed Mother is not a suitable witness. Holy 
Scripture reveals the paschal school of faith. Mary was perfected in 
faith and no longer required this schooling. Jesus, no doubt, appeared 
to her. The preacher is aware that Mary possessed the deepest under- 
standing of the resurrection of Christ. Therefore, he should develop 
the thoughts and mysteries of the resurrection, and show how Mary 
grasped them, based upon the repeated biblical saying: Maria conser- 
vabat omnia verba haec, conferens in corde suo. A large selection of 
thoughts which we have unfolded from Holy Saturday to Rogation Sun- 
day, based upon the previously given points of contact and on Mariology, 
may be applied without a forced relation, to the Mother of God, f.i. 
Beata quae credidisti — she believed when He was lying in the crib — 
how exaltingly does she believe now when He is risen from the grave and 
announces Himself to the whole world as the Son of God. She believed 
when she was forced to flee from the enemies of Jesus with the Child 
Jesus to Egypt — think of how she believes now when Jesus announces 
Himself mighty and powerful to His enemies as the Risen Son of God. 
She believed at the time when the house at Nazareth constituted the 
whole Church — how her faith now rejoices when the Risen Saviour 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 679 



gathers the " rocks" of His universal Church and sends these as the 
teachers of His truth, the proclaimers of law and as witneses of His life 
into all countries. Our faith experiences, as it were, also all this. 
Therefore, compare pp. 418-436. Another good theme might be this: 
The Magnificat of Mary at the resurrection of Christ. Point out how 
the idea of the Magnificat is now really completely fulfilled. 

Mary and the Saviour ascended, or: Mary and the primeval Church. 
The primeval Church "with Mary, the Mother of Jesus," is a type of 
the relation of Mary to the Church. The one word of the Acts of the 
Apostles expresses immeasurably much. The primeval Church appears 
after Jesus had taken leave from her, and when Jesus greets her again 
and revivifies her through the Holy Ghost: " cum Maria, matre Jesu. ,} 
Mary is a teacher of the Church, and a witness of the truth of Christ, 
an intercessor and a mediatrix for the grace of Christ, a first follower in 
the footsteps of Christ. 

The entire image of Mary in Holy Scripture. The woman clothed 
with the sun. (Compare the Apocalypse 12: 1-17, and Dr. A. Schaefer: 
Maria in der hi. Schrift, p. 244 sqq. This exalted picture describes 
the Church and Mary.) 

Pragmatic and typical conceptions contained in the Bible. We have 
already expressed ourselves very fully regarding the homiletic signifi- 
cance of the great pragmatic field of religion and revelation. (Compare 
pp. 100, 101, 102, 103 sqq.) It is a very grateful task to paint the image 
of Mary, in great natural combinations, from the trend and the deeply 
conceived history of the entire revelation. This may be done in short 
or in long cycles. For accessory means we would especially recommend 
biblical works and commentaries which treat of the early and real life 
of Mary in Holy Scripture. We recommend the convincing commenta- 
ries on the works of the Old Testament, contained in the new Cursus 
Scripturarum of the Jesuits on the respective passages. Many types 
and prophecies in regard to Mary are also contained in Schuster-Holz- 
ammer's Handbuch der biblischen Geschichte, and well treated. A most 
excellent auxiliary is the book of Dr. A. Schaefer : The Mother of God 
in Holy Scripture. Herein the entire rich biblical material is collected 
under dogmatic view-points: Mary the Virgin; Mary the Mother of 
God; Mary co-operating; Mary the mediatrix. By means of subpoints 
of the index and of the list of writers a historical pragmatic order 
might easily be arranged. An alphabetical index of the contents would, of 
course, enhance the homiletic value of this solid exegetical work very 
much. Very good directions are also given by Zschokke : Die biblischen 
Frauen. Well elaborated sermons in this fine are presented by P. 
Vogt, S.J.: 11 Maria in ihren VorbildernP The more detailed explana- 
tions of the messianic prophecies contain very valuable material for the 



68o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



historic-pragmatic conception of the life of Mary. The best material 
on the life of Mary, in a pragmatic connection, is contained in The Life of 
Jesus by Grimm, in those striking paragraphs and chapters in which 
Mary appears in the foreground. Compare also the index of contents 
under the word "Mary," and under the name of the Marian types. Too 
little is the excellent treatise in Scheeben's dogma consulted by preachers 
on the theological sources of Mariology on Mary in the books of the 
Old and the New Testament, with references to rich literature, Vol. Ill, 
n. 1 521-1563 (p. 455-472). Therein are found the best and the deepest 
conceptions, contained in a compressed whole picture. In reference to 
the types we venture the remark that not all types are suitable for some 
sermons. Some types throw merely a mysterious light on the future 
position of the Blessed Mother of God, f.i., the miracle of the fleece of 
Gideon, the little cloud-burst which Elias saw arising from Mt. Carmel 
over the sea. Such class of types should only be used by the preacher 
for important illustrations of dogmatic or moral conceptions. Besides, 
types should only be used in connection with the entire sacred history, 
with the critical points of moment in which they appear, and should not 
be treated without the consultation of commentaries and the better 
handbooks of biblical history, or of positive dogmatic writers. Should 
this be neglected, the types appear like a deus ex machina and will often 
act in a confusing and repulsive manner. Not all types and typical 
conceptions are equally safe and guaranteed. Not every typical and 
pragmatic conception should be delivered as an article of faith. Often- 
times it should be expressly remarked that: some of the Fathers and 
theologians find here this deeper connection, etc. "We do regret 
that even today, in almost all Mariological writings, even in the scien- 
tific and in connection with older works, a number of texts of the patris- 
tic times are quoted in an entirely uncritical manner, especially the 
writings (and texts) quoted under the name of more ancient and highly 
respected Fathers, which, doubtless, or at least probably, belong to later 
times and less important authors.'' (Scheeben, Dogma; Mariology III, 
n. 1560.) This holds good also for certain typical and allegorical con- 
ceptions and unique exegeses. Under the view-point of: The Mother 
of God in the Bible, the biblical events may be placed more thematically 
under one or several points of view, f.i., biblical pages concerning Mary. 
See above, p. 680 sqq., n. 7. v., also p. 99. Another cycle of the New 
Testament might be the following: 

1. Mary becomes the Mother of God (the angel at Nazareth). 
2. Mary is announced as the Mother of God (by Elisabeth). 3. Mary 
acts as the Mother of God (in her private life). 4. Mary acts as the 
Mother of God (in her public life: Cana). 5. Mary suffers as the Mother 
of God (on Calvary). 6. Mary fulfils her task of Mother of God in 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 681 



the Church (Pentecost — the Acts of the Apostles — the history of the 
Church). 7. Mary fulfils her task as Mother of God in heaven (com- 
pare the Apocalypse). 

Or (according to Dr. Schaefer: Mary in the Bible): Mary in the 
Bible: 

1. Mary the Virgin. 2. Mary the Mother of God. 3. Mary Mother 
of the Redeemer. 4. Mary full of grace. 5. Mary co-operating. 6. 
Mary the mediatrix. 

Many biblical events may also be included in the mysteries of the 
holy rosary, f.i. : 

The joyful mysteries : The five sacred journeys : 1. With the angel 
to Mary at Nazareth. 2. With Mary to Elisabeth. 3. With Mary to 
Jerusalem. 4. With Mary to the presentation in the temple (compare 
pp. 57, 58). 5. With Mary to the celebration of Easter in Jerusalem. 

B. Dogmatic-moral Marian sermons. The dogmatic Marian 
sermons lead directly to the very center of religion. Their theme 
is always — Jesus and Mary. Excellent material is furnished, 
above all, by Scheeben's dogma: "Mariology," III. Vol., pp. 455- 
629, and i52isqq. Rich material is also contained in Hurter's 
dogma. We recommend to preachers, very urgently, the Mater 
admirabilis of P. Stecher, S.J., "The Admirable Mother," and his 
sermons for May, revised by P. E. Fischer, S.J. These May ser- 
mons are, in a certain sense, a complete popularized Mariology. 
Though the main points of these sermons are somewhat heavily 
crammed, and their patristic proofs without any judicious elimina- 
tion, and the exegesis somewhat overdone, still the matter, espe- 
cially taken from Holy Scripture and dogma, is very solid, and often 
happily worked out; not infrequently do very striking applications, 
flowing out of the dogmatic exposition itself, perfect the addresses. 
The sermons should be first thoroughly studied and then personally 
elaborated. 

We should like to recall the range of themes: 

Mary's dignity and Mary's person. 1. Mary the Mother of God. 
2. Mary our Mother. 3. Mary's sinlessness. 4. Mary's fulness of grace. 
5. Mary's virginity. 6. Mary's faith. 7. Mary's love. 8. Mary's 
suffering. 9. Mary's glory, etc. 

Mary's greatness, with a similar arrangement of themes: 1. Mary's 
greatness in general [Mulier amicta sole, etc.). 2. Mary's greatness, as 
Mother of Christ. 3. Mary's greatness, as a virgin. 4. Mary's great- 
ness, as the one full of grace. 5. Mary's greatness, as the one full of 



682 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



virtue. 6. Mary's greatness, in her faith. 7. Mary's greatness, in her 
humility. 8. Mary's greatness, in her love: in her quiet and public 
life; in suffering and in sorrow. 

Mary's virtues (cf. below: moral sermons). For these sermons we 
recommend a twofold method: (a) To study and consider a cycle of 
virtues, the development of which, in the life of Mary, may be regarded 
fruitful in consequence of existing material. Examine first a series of 
presentations of virtues, f.i., in St. Thomas, II. II. (Consult Portmann: 
das System der Summe des hi. Thomas, 2 ed. p. 179 sqq.), Miiller's, 
Lehmkuhl's, Gopfert's, or Pruner's moral theologies, also the five vol- 
umes of the "Apologie" of Weiss, and ask yourself: For what sketches 
and ideas of the life of Mary may surprising proofs be found, especially 
in the Gospels? (b) To study and consider, with pen in hand, scenes of 
the life of Mary contained in the Gospels, in a harmonized treatise on 
the Gospels, in the life of Jesus or Mary, and ask yourself: What kind of 
explanatory and illustrating thoughts and points of moment, what 
disposing points and sketchings are presented by moral theology, in 
order to formulate from those indicated, oftentimes merely latent 
sketches of the Gospels, and a full sermon on a virtue with moral appli- 
cations? then arrange the whole into a logical-rhetorical cycle, f.i.: 
Mary's faith (or Mary and faith) ; Mary's love; Mary's humility; Mary's 
obedience; Mary's purity and virginity; Mary's fortitude. Or: Mary's 
sermon and example on the Ten Commandments of God. Or: 
Mary and the Word of God; Mary and the love of God; Mary and con- 
science; Mary and work; Mary and fidelity to our vocation; Mary and 
suffering. 

Mary's titles of honor. Not all are suitable for single sermons; 
several are mere expressions of mighty emotions. 

For May devotions a cycle of themes might be selected from the life of 
Mary or some single important event in her life, then again the entire, 
at other times, separate parts of the Mariology; again, the virtues of 
Mary, the beatitudes and Mary, the gifts of the Holy Ghost and 
Mary, Mary's titles of honor, Mary's prayer. The Magnificat, prayers 
to Mary, etc., all these would form appropriate subjects. The Marian 
sermons may often be arranged in connection with the occurring Sundays 
and feast-days, with their Gospels, Epistles, or fundamental thoughts, 
into very attractive and, considered from a view of novelty, very striking 
cycles. 

The following works would form a complete and fruitful Marian 
library: Das Leben Jesu, von Grimm and Meschler (the latter is 
translated into English), Dr. A. Schaefer: Mary, in Holy Scripture, 
Scheeben's, Heinrich's, Hurter's dogma, Stecher's May Predigten: 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 683 



Maria, die wunderbare Mutter, Scherer's Marienfeste (VI. Band 
der Bibliothek fur Prediger), Vogt's Vorbilder Mariae, Nicolas' 
new Studien uber das Christentum : Maria, 4 vols., Regensburg, 
Manz, i860; Kolb, S.J.: Wegweiser durch die marianische Lit- 
teratur and its supplement, a critical work which, on account of 
its very rich literature, we recommend most urgently to the preacher. 

8. The Catholic Church. One of the principal subjects of a 
sermon, especially in these our days, is the solid doctrine on the 
Catholic Church. 

Through the study of apologetic and dogmatic treatises de 
ecclesia, by penetrating into the origin, the growth, and the forma- 
tion of the Church, according to the descriptions of the Bible, by 
the reading of corresponding monographs, and by following the 
new literature in books and magazines, etc., the preacher will 
prepare himself constantly more and more for a sermon on this 
highly interesting and practically important subject. 

In opposition to the open and concealed conflict against the 
Church, in view of the intended and unconscious misrepresentations 
of the Church through the press and literature, and in view of the 
many prejudices and misrepresentations which exist here and 
there, the solid and luminous exposition of the Church becomes 
an inestimable benefit to the people and the educated classes. 

In the course of these studies we have already devoted an 
extensive consideration to the principal theme concerning the 
Church. We merely recall here the fundamental expositions of 
the teaching office of Christ and of the Church, which may readily 
be transformed into themes for sermons (pp. 13-28), the entire image 
of the Church contained in the Bible (pp. 141, 142; see also, pp. 137- 
141), the relation of the Risen Christ to His Church (Easter, pp. 
436-445), the image of the Church as the work and the home of 
the Holy Ghost (Pentecost and its octave, pp. 499, 500, 505, 509, 
566, 567) ; the plan of the cycles on faith and the Church (pp. 448, 
449, and especially 554, 555, with an indication to literature); 
the development of the thoughts of the kingdom of Christ and of 
the Church on the Sundays after Pentecost (pp. 536-554, 555; 
compare also the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, pp. 544- 
553. For further individual thoughts consult the index). 

We may thus content ourselves here, in regard to the already 
developed train of thought, with some few methodic suggestions. 
The preacher should treat: 



684 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(a) The genesis of the Church. She is the life-work of our 
Saviour. The homilist should show: 

(a) How the Church grew out of the Gospels, beginning with 
the word of the angel of the annunciation of the kingdom of Christ 
to the transmission of the primacy at the end of the Gospel of 
John. The preacher should show in detail: 

(/?) How Christ planned His Church, constructed and perfected 
it. These scriptural proofs are extremely important, especially 
in reference to Protestants, and also for the joyous confirmation 
of Catholics (see p. 142); the preacher should show furthermore: 

(y) That the Church is the continuation of the life of Christ, 
the continuation of the word of Christ and of His grace, of His 
acts, and that through the commission of Christ she is a Queen, a 
Mistress, a Mother; the preacher should establish by clear proofs: 

(S) That the primitive Church of the Acts of the Apostles 
already believed and acted as does the Church of the present day; 
he should show, from the first centuries, that the primitive Chris- 
tians thought and lived as we do. But the preacher should not 
forget : 

(e) To present the expected development of the Church in 
the course of ages, according to the law of the mustard seed and 
of the leaven, distinguishing clearly between the divine and the 
human, the essential and the transitory, the full development and 
the impeded activity in the conflict and through the robbery of 
her liberty. The preacher should present the Church: 

(£) As a perfect society established by Christ, as a free sover- 
eign daughter of God, as an independent created power and might 
in relation to the State, but co-laboring with it (see p. 544), 
as a kingdom of God from within and from without, as a militant, 
a suffering, and a finally perfected triumphant Church, and in all 
her greatness — not as a self-aiming institution, but as a means 
and a way toward the end : to Christ, to God. 

The preacher should explain, especially in cycles of sermons: 

(b) The essence of the Church: her institution and constitution 
by Christ as a visible society, as a living society, as the mysterious 
body of Christ, as an unequal society with a superior and inferior 
subordination — and then, above all, the foundation of the Church, 
the transmission and succession in all its power and might — the 
edification of the Church; the apostolate, the episcopate, the 
clergy, and the laity — the exalted characteristic features and marks 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 685 



of the Church — the Church as the teacher and the witness of the 
truth of Christ, in her ordinary general teaching office, in councils, 
in the infallible solemn papal decisions (here very clear and exact 
terms are most important), with a view of the objects of her teach- 
ing office. Very important is the presentation of the Church as 
the dispenser of the grace of Christ, as the praying and worship- 
guiding and ordaining Bride of Christ — as a directing, superin- 
tending, and punishing shepherdess and queen, vindicating her 
sacred rights in the authority of Christ. Fruitful also are the 
themes concerning union with the Church, on the necessity of this 
union, and on the extraordinary ways, apparently without the 
Church, and yet again, in a spiritual manner, with and in the only 
saving Church of Christ (pp. 106, 107). All these expositions are a 
beneficent light of which our modern world stands much in need. 
The preacher should here offer solid dogma and apologetics; he 
should appeal, according to the justification of the foundation of 
the faith and of the clear determined will of Christ, to sound, 
common sense, which must draw the conclusions. He should 
avoid all attacks and severity. 

(c) The laws and the institution of the Church. Here the 
preacher should throw light upon the several subjects through 
more specific notions. He should show the individual law, and the 
individual institution in the light of Christ and of the great Catholic 
ideas. (Consult on this point below: Apologetic sermons.) 

(d) The storms and the conflicts against the Church. Here a 
fundamental treatment, possibly in connection with the Gospel of 
the storm at sea or of Pentecost, is ever of great importance. Then 
the homilist should consider the periodical attacks against the 
Church and take a stand against them in a dogmatically correct 
and determined and far-sighted manner. Literary and theological 
magazines, ecclesiastical journals, and prominent organs of the 
Press may greatly post the preacher on this point. He should also 
take note of the local tendencies. Often a refutation of individual 
claptrap and historical lies may be of great advantage. This 
might also be done in a more extensive manner through religious 
instructions, in conferences, and addresses to societies. 

(e) The blessing of the Church and the happiness in being a 
Catholic. Such a train of thoughts may also be made extremely 
fruitful from time to time. Care should, however, be taken that 
not mere formal rhetorical sentiment and notorious commonplace 



686 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



prevail. The homilist should unfold in a dogmatic, but a correct 
and brilliant manner, the blessing and consolation contained in 
the faith, hope, and love of the Church, in her sacramental accom- 
paniment of our lives, and in the various stations, from the cradle 
to the grave; thus rich sentiments will spring up from this source 
in an unsought manner. (See pp. 553, 554.) 

(/) One thought should always arise in the minds of the people 
from sermons on the Church — which is this: The Church does what 
Christ does, she is the proclaimer of Christ, of His entire person, of 
His whole activity, of all His demands and consequences, but also 
the dispenser of all His graces. (For literature on this point con- 
sult, especially, the more recent dogmatic writers, such as Hurter, 
Heinrich, Scheeben, Jungmann, Willmer, Pesch; besides apolo- 
getics, especially of. Hettinger, Schanz, Gutberlet; monographs by 
B. Specht: The Catholic Church according to St. Augustin; Schmid: 
Peter in Rome; the more popular writings of Hammerstein and 
Wetzel; sermons of Bossuet, Ravignan, Didon, Monsabre, Ket- 
teler, Ehrler, Foerster (Newman, Headly, and others). 1 

9. The eternal truths. Very important are sermons on the 
eternal truths : on the aim and end, death, judgment, heaven, hell, 
mortal sin, according to the scriptural principle: " Remember, 
oh, man! thy last end, and thou wilt never sin in eternity." Ser- 
mons hereon should often be delivered: 

(a) Ex professo: at retreats, missions, often in Lent, also on 
the first Sunday of Advent, at the end of the year and of the ecclesi- 
astical year, on All Saints, All Souls, in the meetings of the con- 
fraternity of a happy death, etc. Consult our development of the 
ecclesiastical year. 

(b) The eternal truths ought form, as it were, the golden ground 
on which the rest of the truths of holy religion are based. 

10. The life of grace. Life of grace should constitute a sep- 
arate principal theme of eloquence, considered in itself and apolo- 
getically in view of the modern, mere human righteousness. The 
preacher should put into requisition all his talents and resources to 
depict sanctifying grace to the people to its fullest extent, in all its 
beauty and uninterrupted necessity, and to show the people what 
they possess in sanctifying grace and how great is its loss. It is 
his principal task to sustain his parish in sanctifying grace : ut vitam 
habeant et abundantius habeant. We have repeatedly expressed our- 

1 Recommended by the translator. 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 687 



selves on this point, in our treatise on the ecclesiastical year, and 
made in many places most varied propositions for its treatment. 
Consult p. 90 sqq.; 162 sqq, see, f.i., the I. Sunday of Advent, p. 
176 sqq., p. 59 sqq. Christmas, pp. 213, 214, 216, 217, the entire 
time of Lent, especially the I. Sunday of Lent, p. 272 sqq. Lenten 
sermons, p. 329 sqq., especially also Monday of Holy Week, p. 
345 sqq., Holy Thursday, p. 364 sqq., afford very much stimula- 
tion. We have given this subject an extensive attention throughout 
the whole ecclesiastical year; consult, f.i., holy Advent and its 
Sundays, Christmas, the III. and IV. Sundays of Lent, especially 
Lenten sermons on the paschal sacraments, p. 323 sqq., Holy Sat- 
urday, Easter, Low Sunday, etc. 

(c) The doctrine on good intentions, on love and perfect contrition, 
especially also — the ways leading thereto, and practical directions 
should be one of the principal themes of the preacher (see pp. 57, 
58, 73, 74, 75, 312 sqq.), and should be treated ex professo and 
occasionally. It is the principal part of the preacher's duty and 
of the entire activity of the good pastor of souls to maintain the 
parish in sanctifying grace, to strengthen and direct it therein 
unto constant progress. 

(d) The doctrine on prayer. The preacher of the supernatural 
must regard the promotion of the spirit of prayer as a first duty. 
The absolutely frequent prayer is the respiration and the pulsation 
of the real Christian. It should therefore also be one of the main 
concerns of the preacher. Otherwise he would fail in being a true 
shepherd. We have fully expressed ourselves upon this main 
theme of the sermon in our treatment of the ecclesiastical year, 
and have given most extensive advice thereon. 

We refer especially to the more lengthy exposition of the I. Sun- 
day of Advent, p. 60, and p. 180, also to the treatment of Rogation 
Sunday and its week, p. 522 sqq. 

(e) The treatment of the ordinary subjects and the exercises 
of Catholic life also belong to this category. Nunquam satis dicitur 
quod nunquam satis discitur. Such instructions should also be 
interwoven as occasional exhortations, and this especially on feast- 
days on which the masses of the people, the cultured and the poor, 
are congregated. Above we have offered an entire series of plans 
in the treatment of the ecclesiastical year. See also pp. 72, 73, 74, 75. 

11. The formation of the Christian character. The entire 
activity of the homilist must tend toward the formation of the 



688 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Christian character. He should draw from the wealth of moral 
and ascetic theology, but also keep his eye on popular life, on its 
bright and its shady sides. In this he should never forget the main 
principle: morals grow out of faith; the moral sermon is not to 
be a mere philosophical moralizing. Good moral theologians should 
be consulted, but especially those who combine the positive and 
practical method, f.i., Gopfert, Miiller, Bouquillon, Lehmkuhl, 
the "Apologie" of Weiss, V. B.; Pesch, Der Christ im Weltleben; 
especially practical and solid ascetic works. 

We have taken especial care in the treatise on the ecclesiastical 
year, in a most extensive manner, to keep in view the homiletic 
task of forming the Christian character, and we have constantly 
striven to give, from this view, also concrete and popularizing 
suggestions. See, among other places, pp. 53-76, and pp. 242, 243, 
244, etc., especially also the whole of Lent and the Sundays after 
Pentecost. 

12. The distresses of the people and their redemption. An impor- 
tant duty of the preacher is the awakening of a realization of the 
necessities of a redemption by a true description of the great 
needs of humanity. Then, upon this background, salvation in 
these needs — the Redeemer of the world, Christ Jesus, must 
be preached and introduced. The Saviour Himself begins His 
activity and preaching precisely with this idea: " Blessed are 
the poor in spirit." (See above, p. 108, n. 7.) Therefore, educa- 
tion in the poverty of spirit, i.e., toward the conviction and the 
feeling of the individual universal great need and poverty, from 
which Christ alone can redeem, must be regarded by the preacher 
as one of his principal duties. 

"Why do millions cling with all their souls to Christ?" Be- 
cause they see in Him their Redeemer from sin and death. And 
why do thousands upon thousands, especially of the so-called cul- 
tured, in spite of all confirmation of the proofs of His divine mission, 
fall away from Christ? They claim they need no Redeemer, they 
are proud and self-sufficient (beati pauper es spiritu — esiirientibiis 
implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes — venite ad me omnes qui 
labor atis et onerati estis, etc.). 

"Thus faith in Christ depends most especially upon a vividly 
awakened conception of the necessity of redemption: upon the 
feeling of our needs rests the adhesion to Christ and to Christianity, 
among the high and the low." (Hirscher, on apprehensions in 



THE SUBSTANCE OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 689 



regard to the giving of religious instruction, also mentioned by 
Jungmann, Geistl. Bereds., cf. Catechismus Romanus; Ignatius of 
Loyola — Exercises, meditation on the Incarnation, with notes by 
Pater Roothan, also the Christmas hymn - — Spes perennis omnium 
— solus e sinu patris mundi salus adveneris, etc. 

For all these view-points the Gospels, the Gospels of the Sun- 
days also, contain innumerable scenes, doctrines, and parables, 
and by a practical- typical application of these to our present life, 
thousands would be compelled to say : I am in similar distress — 
Jesus can and desires to help me likewise! Consider the following 
view-points, which are adapted for Sacred Heart sermons, especially 
if the inner, the divine-human life of the Saviour be more deeply 
contemplated and treated. 

(a) Jesus and our poor reason {ego lux mundi); compare, f.L, 
Jesus and Nicodemus; Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Our 
reason, it is true, is a splendid light. It can and ought to discover 
for itself a huge field of truth. But for a deeper conception of 
religious truths it appears weakened, — and in regard to the super- 
natural — it is completely insufficient. Here the immeasurable truth 
of the words appear: Erat lux mundi! 

(J3) Jesus and our corrupt, sick heart. (Compare Jesus and 
the Samaritan woman, Jesus and Mary Magdalen.) 

(y) Jesus and our weak will. (Compare Jesus and the training 
of the Apostles, the entire Apostolic school from all sides, the 
parable of the vine and the grapes.) 

(8) Jesus and our great guilt. (Compare Jesus on the cross, 
possibly in the light of the Pauline letters concerning the satis- 
faction of Christ. Confer Simar, Theologie des hi. Paulus; see 
above, Passion Sunday and the entire development of Holy 
Week.) 

(e) Jesus and the enormous amount of suffering. (Consult the 
doctrine on suffering, after the scene at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus' 
way of the cross, compare, f.i., above, p. 86.) 

(£) Jesus and sickness. (Compare the evening at Caphar- 
naum, after the cure of the mother-in-law of Peter and innumerable 
other cures, as, f.i., that of the woman suffering from an issue 
of blood.) 

(7?) Jesus and the hour of death. (Compare Jesus and the 
young man of Nairn, Jesus and the daughter of Jairus, Jesus on 
Mt. of Olives, Jesus and His death on the cross.) 



690 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(6) Jesus and the grave. (The entire history of the resurrec- 
tion of Lazarus, treated, f.i., as a thematic homily.) 

(<,) Jesus and eternity. (Compare the great declaration of 
Christ on the last things, the parable of the judgment — life in 
the light of the candle at death, and of Christ Jesus.) 

Thus innumerable other grave conditions of life might be brought 
into connection with Christ, f.i., Jesus and labor (the rich draught 
of fishes, see p. 531 ; the house at Nazareth) ; Jesus and temptation; 
Jesus and our slow progress, etc. 

13. The catechetical truths in general. It would be of great 
advantage if the preacher perused the catechism from time to 
time and asked himself: which truths were less frequently treated? 
Such an examination of conscience by the pastor, the rector of the 
church, and of the individual preacher would become immensely 
fruitful from time to time in the selection of themes. (See also 
above, p. 54, n. d.) 



ISOOfe VI 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 

Y the various kinds of sacred eloquence we may simply 
understand the characteristic forms of the manifesta- 
tion of sacred eloquence: the didascalic and the pare- 
goretic eloquence, with the subdivisions of the latter: 
the panegyric and the paraenetic speech. These forms of mani- 
festation we have already extensively considered in the examination 
of the essence and foundation of sacred eloquence. (Consult Book 
I, § 2, p. 38 sqq.) 

The above mentioned general notion, however, contains the 
concrete kinds and species of sacred eloquence, which are formed 
on the basis of the various forms of the manifestation of eloquence, 
in consequence of the uniqueness of the real aim of the matter 
and of the circumstances of the sermon. These concrete kinds 
and species are to be treated here. In the treatment of these 
concrete and determined divisions we shall consider, very minutely, 
the formerly developed principles of the forms of manifestation 
of sacred eloquence. We desire, above all, to recall the very impor- 
tant axiom which manifested itself to us on that occasion, through 
the consideration of the essence of eloquence itself, and which we 
shall here repeat in the words of Bishop Keppler: " There is no 
sermon which could have a purely didactic aim, 1 none that might 
be intended merely to move, none which could move the will with- 
out uniting with the knowledge of faith or influencing the same. 
So, too, are there no purely dogmatic or purely moral sermons: 
dogma must always end in moral ; moral must be built upon dogma." 
(Wetzer and Welte's Kirchenlexicon, II. ed., art. Homiletik, 6. Bd., 
p. 214, c. 2.) Nevertheless, it is proper to speak of dogmatic, 

1 See above, the explanation of the notion "didactic," p. 39 a. 

691 




692 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



moral-apologetic and exegetic sermons for a direct practical orien- 
tation. The just indicated views and spheres of religion appear 
in certain spiritual addresses more prominently. But they should 
never hamper nor impede in any way the supernatural life which 
should grow out of faith and which is the one great and main object 
of homiletic activity: ut vitam habeant et abundantius habeant. 
But after having developed precisely this main object of the ser- 
mon theoretically and with practical suggestions from all sides in 
our entire studies, we believe we might be allowed the more readily 
to follow, for practical reasons, the obligato division in this Sixth 
Book. Dr. Keppler, it is true, rejects, in the quoted passage, the 
principle of division into the dogmatic, moral, and apologetic aims, 
because the greatest danger arises therefrom to ignore, in spite of 
all precautions, the life-nerve of the Christian sermon, which lies 
between dogma and moral. 

We agree with this perfectly, if this principle of division is to 
control all homiletics. But, after having disclosed, time and again, 
this life-nerve of the union between dogma and moral in our homi- 
letic studies, and especially in our theoretic and practical treatise 
on Holy Scripture and liturgy, and having shown its ramifications, 
we might be permitted to select, without any detriment, the ancient 
obligato division for a collection of direct and practical rules in 
this Sixth Book. 1 

CHAPTER I 

DIVISIONS ACCORDING TO THE PREDOMINANT SUBJECTS 

OF SERMONS 

Article I. The Thematic-Thesis Sermon, with a Predominant 
Scholastic-Rhetorical Method 

§ I. The Dogmatic Sermons 

We shall consider the necessity and the excellence as well as 
the method of dogmatic sermons. 

i. The necessity and the excellence. Faith is the beginning 
of our salvation and the root of our entire justification. (Trid. 

1 Consult on this eminently practical point P. Jungmann, S.J., Bedenken gegen 
die Einteilung des Deharbe'schen Katechismus (Theorie der gl. Beredtsamkeit, II, B, 
p. 792, n. 339 sqq.) and with it the Antikritik of P. J. Linden, S.J., in the supple- 
ment to the Katechetischen Blaettern (Koesel, Kempten): Die Einteilung des 
Deharbe'schen Katechismus, Jahrg. 1902, n. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 693 



Sess. 6, c. 8.) Therefore, the development of the extent of faith 
is the first and the most necessary task of the preacher. Christ 
reveals Himself, above all, as a teacher of truth, and He acted, 
above all, as the teacher of truth. Precisely therefore did He 
transmit to the Church the preaching of the truth as her first and 
fundamental task. The proximate proof of this was already fur- 
nished in the introduction of these studies, when treating of the 
teaching office of Christ and of the Church (pp. 13-27). But the 
sermons which are predominantly dogmatic are best adapted to 
proclaim the extent of the doctrines of faith, of the doctrines of 
Christ Jesus. They are therefore indispensably necessary and of 
an incalculable benefit. The entire, full, and especially the con- 
nected announcement of the whole faith effects, moreover, that 
which is ordinarily called the Catholic view of God and of the 
world, and implants into the depths of sentiment the real spirit 
and joy of faith. (See pp. 43 sqq., and 44; p. 46.) The dogmatic 
sermon, finally, conquers one of the greatest enemies of religion: 
ignorance. In innumerable people ignorance, and semi-ignorance 
in the line of religion, is the cause of religious ruin. It was not in 
vain that Christ said: Ego sum lux mundi; and the evangelist 
announces Him as the lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem 
venientem in hunc mundum. (See above Holy Saturday, pp. 400- 
403.) Such and similar thoughts might easily be arranged in an 
introductory sermon of dogmatic sermons. We have repeatedly 
drawn attention to the numerous and fruitful occasions for the 
deliverance of dogmatic sermons and cycles, especially in our 
treatment of the ecclesiastical year, and we have given on this 
point extensive and suitable suggestions. (See, f.i., the chapters 
on Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, the Sundays after Epiphany, 
Passion Sunday, Lenten sermons, Holy Week and its several days, 
Holy Saturday, Easter, the Sundays after Easter, Ascension, Pente- 
cost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus Christi, the feast of the Sacred Heart, 
the Sundays after Peter and Paul, etc.) We wish here to empha- 
size most emphatically that also the exegetic sermon — the homily 
— might be, in a really excellent manner, a dogmatic sermon. 
For this, too, we have given innumerable examples. (See, f.i., 
Epiphany, Holy Saturday, Easter (the history of Easter), Easter 
Monday, the II. Sunday after Easter, etc.) 

2. Various kinds of dogmatic sermons. The dogmatic sermons 
may appear as: 



6Q4 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(a) Dogmatic festive sermons. There is question here of grasp- 
ing the great mysteries, the main themes, and the central truths 
deeply, clearly, and in the spirit of faith, to develop them and to 
descend from these heights down to direct practical and striking 
applications. We have expressed ourselves fully and diversely in 
treating of the ecclesiastical year, on these festive and mystery 
sermons. (Consult our extensive suggestions for Christmas, p. 
209 sqq., p. 212 sqq., p. 216 sqq., n. II.; the excursus on Epiphany, 
p. 229 sqq., and especially p. 231 sqq.; the paragraphs on Good 
Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter, and Pentecost, on the feast of the 
Sacred Heart, etc. ; consult also an important remark on the appli- 
cation of the festive sermon, p. 73 sqq.) 

The dogmatic sermons appear: 

(b) As catechetical sermons. They unfold the whole contents 
of faith, contained in the catechism, in connected cycles. These 
sermons are immensely beneficial and very much to be recom- 
mended. Care must, however, be taken that the several sermons 
be not overcrowded with matter. Besides, the dogmatic-cate- 
chetic sermon should not be too closely connected with the text 
of the catechism, so that it may distinguish itself sharply from 
the Sunday catechetical instruction. The paraenetic point of im- 
portance should also be more prominent than in the catechetical 
instruction. Therefore, the trend of the catechism should be 
closely followed and ought be treated in two to three years, with 
occasional interruptions by homilies or festive sermons, and for 
the material construction and division theological works should 
be mainly used, such as Willmer's, Hurter's, Heinrich's, or Schee- 
ben's dogma, the Summa of St. Thomas, dogmatic monographs, 
and occasionally, yet not too slavishly, catechetic-dogmatic ser- 
mons of various styles, f.i., Zollner, Wermelskirchen, Monsabre, 
Ehrler, etc. (See also above, p. 315: Dogmatic-catechetic sermons 
for Lent.) We distinguish: 

(a) Catechetical popular sermons, as a short and striking and 
substantial popularization of dogma. 

(j3) Catechetical sermons for the cultured classes, f.i., in the 
form of ten-minute sermons for the late Sunday masses, etc., in 
winch the same preacher might deliver a series of from ten to twelve 
sermons, to permit the trend of the thoughts of the several ser- 
mons to be most intimately connected and act under similar ob- 
jective thoughts. In such a case all introductions would become 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 695 



superfluous. Under such circumstances somewhat more lofty 
thoughts might be occasionally interwoven, provided the preacher 
knows how to descend again to a short and striking and practical 
central truth. It need scarcely be mentioned that a wise apolo- 
getic direction would be here of great advantage. But great con- 
fidence should always be placed in solid, and, by means of Holy 
Scripture, vivid and positive development of Catholic truth. (See 
several suggestions for the Sundays after Epiphany, p. 240, n. Ill; 
for the Sundays after Easter, pp. 448, 449; see also above: Con- 
tents of the sermon, p. 668 sqq.) 

(y) Catechetical sermons at low masses, especially for servants 
and laborers, who are prevented from attending the parochial 
masses. Here a religious instruction on the duties of the stations 
of life should be combined with a solid instruction on religion, and 
occasionally Christian social thoughts should be worked in. 

(c) As dogmatic Sunday sermons , in connection with the liturgy, 
and in fact: 

(a) In a strict liturgical connection. (See the §§ on the ecclesi- 
astical year, especially on Advent, the Sundays after Epiphany, 
and the Sundays from Septuagesima to Easter, and § 74.) 

(/3) In a wider combination of thoughts. (See our extensive 
plan of sketches for Lent, p. 329 sqq.) (Compare, pp. 506 sqq., 
576 sqq.) 

For a change the pastor of souls might peruse, to great advan- 
tage, all the Epistles of the year with the question: What kind of 
dogmatic central thoughts do they contain? 

(d) In all these various kinds and methods the preacher should 
not confine himself to the giving of proof, but should, in every 
instance, make a transition toward a fruitful and universal motion, 
in order to close with a striking central application. 

Thus, f.i., in a sermon on the holiness of God, based on the sixth 
chapter of Isaias (the vision seen by the prophet of the "Holy" of the 
Seraphim), wherein the thought might have been developed: God hates 
sin, i.e., (a) God cannot sin. (b) God absolutely cannot sin. (c) God 
can only permit sin in order to draw good from it — a transition might 
be made to the following practical central application: And what do we do 
in view of the sanctity of God ? Like the sinless God, we should hate sin, 
and, as sinful men, deplore sin. The preacher may again look back to 
the vision of the prophet (c. 6). When the holiness of God revealed 
itself to the prophet in an overwhelming manner, Isaias, in the conscious- 



696 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ness of his sinfulness, cried out: Woe is me, because I have held my 
peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a 
people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King, 
the Lord of hosts. And one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his 
hand was a live coal which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. 
And he touched my mouth and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, 
and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sins shall be cleansed. 
What does this mean for us? Before the holiness of God we must bewail 
our sins and the eternally Holy will cleanse us from sin. And now the 
homilist may gather from the dogmatic part of his sermon the one or 
the other motive and make it a motive of contrition (see p. 342). The 
purity of God, who is light, and in whom there dwells no shadow of 
darkness, who, with all His essence and power hates sin, and is ready, 
with all His holy and mighty mercy, to cleanse us and to deliver us from 
sin — the purity of God overwhelms us with shame, but raises and moves 
us also to the pure love of God and to contrition through love. The 
preacher should popularize these thoughts. Therefore, he should exhort 
with all possible energy his hearers to imagine themselves in the con- 
dition of the prophet precisely at the Sanctus of the mass — to compare 
God's holiness and our unholiness. He should encourage the Christians, 
from the Sanctus to the subsequent consecration of the sacrifice of the 
mass, to awaken within themselves a perfect love and contrition, with 
the resolution to make a good confession, so that before consecration a 
Seraph may come also to us and cleanse us with a live coal. This 
Seraph, with the live coal, is perfect contrition and love. The preacher 
ought also strengthen this motion of feeling of his hearers by adding to 
the image of the Old Law an event of the New Law, f.i.,.the rich draught 
of fishes had just been accomplished. The boat of the fishermen, almost 
brought to a sinking point by the great draught, glides lonely over the 
quiet crest of the sea of Genesareth. There that which has just hap- 
pened is formed for Peter, who is in the boat with the Saviour, into a 
great picture. He views the divine sanctity and the majesty of Jesus. 
But the sanctity of the Son of God takes possession of him and thrills 
him through and through. He collapses over the blessed booty which 
the fishermen's bark contains. He falls upon his knees and, from the 
consciousness of his unholiness, he cries out: Depart from me, oh Lord! 
I am a sinful man! The preacher might urge, in a mild form, a similar 
feeling of sorrow, in which the hearers, reconciled, should salute the 
thrice Holy God in the imminent solemnity of consecration, in order to 
proceed again, re-established and cleansed by Him, to the work and 
battle of life. Thus the preacher may descend very readily to an entire 
concrete, practical and central application from the dogmatic theme. 
Of course, the thoughts merely sketched and concentrated here should 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 697 



be more briefly or extensively popularized, according to the range of his 
hearers. 

In a second sermon on the holiness of God (positive holiness) the 
preacher might develop, first, a dogmatic, and secondly, a moral point, 
each with a word of Christ. Theme: The holiness of God. God is holy, 
this means: God loves, desires, and effects only that which is good. 
1. The first word of Christ (spoken to the young man): "God alone is 
good. Only one is good — God." (a) God wishes and does only that 
which is good. Only that is really good which leads to the infinitely 
supreme good, which in some manner corresponds to the eternal supreme 
end. But God Himself is the supreme good. He is never far from the 
end. He is the end Himself. God desires, wills, and embraces therefore 
always the supreme good, all good. One alone is supremely good, only 
one perfectly good, good and holy in and through Himself — God. (b) 
God seeks nothing good beyond Himself. We must direct ourselves 
toward an end, toward God. He is above us. We must attain the good, 
grasp it, but often, alas! we lose sight of the good and we sin. God is a 
law to Himself. He is the supreme good. What God wills is always 
good, for He is supreme good. "One is good — God." He cannot but 
will and desire solely and alone, with His almighty power, that which is 
good. But He does not will it blindly, not coldly, not without a pleasure 
in the good and not without full knowledge of the good. He is the only 
truly good, He is goodness itself. He is the source of all good. Wher- 
ever there is anything good in the universe there shines a ray of God. 
(Popularize this). In a word: God thinks, wills, wishes, and effects only 
that which is good. He Himself is the supreme good and therefore 
perfectly holy. Holy, Holy, Holy is the God of hosts — thus we address 
Him, admiringly and adoringly with the Seraphim. Does not every- 
thing turn around God? Must not God love Himself the most? But 
is this not egoism? Do we complain of the sun if all the planets turn 
around him, if he alone dispenses light, blessing and illuminating all? 
Surely not. God is the sun of goodness. God is entirely good, therefore 
entirely holy. Where then is the egoism? the selfishness? If we were 
to make ourselves the center, if we thought that all things turn around 
us. For we are not the center. We bear relations to our fellow-men. 
And one who is eternal is above us. Above God there is no one. He is 
the rule and the source of all sanctity. He can never contradict the 
eternally good. He does not contradict Himself. In Him all is good 
and corresponds to the eternally good. He only thinks and loves and 
effects that which is good. Therefore is He Holy, infinitely Holy, He 
is the very sun of holiness, (c) But He does not retain for Himself that 
which is good and holy. He communicates it to others {Bonum est dif- 
fusivum sui). Who are the saints? Who are all those who do real good? 



698 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



As the ray of the sun is reflected in a drop of dew, so, too, is the divine 
Sun reflected in every holy man, in every holy deed performed in heaven 
and on earth. (Popularize this.) What follows? If we consider God's 
sanctity again and the distribution of the divine sanctity and goodness, 
if we reflect that " every good and every perfect gift comes from the 
Father of light," then we will be deeply confused. We will see the 
contrast of our own sinfulness and poverty. We darken and pollute 
the rays of the divine sanctity that reach us. Again we become down- 
cast in spirit — we deplore our sins and we lament: "Lord, depart from 
me, for I am a sinful man!" Then a second word of the Saviour sur- 
prises us: "Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Be 
holy as your Father in heaven is holy. In our last meditation the 
sanctity of God drew us upon our knees through contrition. But the 
sanctity of God places us on our feet again. God is holy. Very well, 
be ye also, as children and creatures of God, holy in your own degree. 
Behold, says God, who is holy, I have put something of my holiness into 
your souls — sanctifying grace (see above, p. 90). You bear, therefore, 
like myself, holiness, aye, even you are a rule, a law, a power of sanctity 
unto yourselves. There should likewise be no room for sin in you, since 
your last confession (see pp. 167, 168). See to it that "you receive not 
the grace of God in vain." "Be ye perfect, be ye holy, as your Father 
in heaven is perfect and holy." Never forfeit grace, your inner essential 
and divine sanctity! Every Sunday, every confession day, every day 
of the week, make a resolution for life against every impediment to 
sanctity, to grace. Take a hold of the entire armory of grace (see Holy 
Saturday, p. 402). And then? Become a true man, a perfect man, 
for your Creator, your Father in heaven is holy, is perfect. Become a 
whole Christian: for your brother, the Son of God and of man, Christ 
Jesus, is perfect. Strive to become true fathers and mothers. And 
though you be ever so lonely, so forgotten, so abandoned — do your 
utmost on the way of the cross, in the eyes of God, who sees all things — 
to become perfect, complete and perfect followers of Christ. If you 
have stumbled on the way, arise quickly. Begin again! Always en- 
deavor to make some progress, be it ever so small. Aye, strive at all 
times, in spite of your many faults, to be whole men, whole Christians 
in religion, in your vocation, until you are returned to your home, after 
the terrestrial conflict and the purification through purgatory, into the 
eternal kingdom of perfection : estote perfecti, sicut et pater vester perfectus 
est. (Popularize this in a becoming manner.) 

We have hastily sketched these two examples to show, f.i., how 
naturally, even before a cultured audience, from a relatively high range 
of thoughts, in which the idea of God was emphasized, the preacher may 
descend to direct practical central applications (see also pp. 73-77). 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 699 



(e) The preacher should show, finally, in all the various kinds 
of dogmatic sermons, each dogma in its connection with the central 
truth and especially with Christ Jesus Himself. " Dogmatic ser- 
mons are, as a rule, the most tedious and the least enjoyable, the 
most instructive and edifying, according to the division of the 
several doctrines, or considered and treated in their live connection 
with the central ideas of Christianity and in constant relation to 
the conditions and the needs of human life." (Willmer, Die Pre- 
digt in der katholischen Kirche, Abth. L, Heim's Predigt-magazin, 
Bd. 3, Abth. I.) All our exposition on Holy Scripture and liturgy 
aimed at presenting this central thought of genuine homiletics in 
a theoretic and practical form, viewed from every side. 1 He who 
meditates regularly and views the life of the world with an eye 
of the pastor of souls, will always find, from Christ and His dogma, 
the way to perfect life. 

Here we would suggest a comparison with these explanations 
of dogmatic sermons, and our thoughts on theological science as a 
guide for practical sermons, pp. 52-56, and on the practical elabora- 
tion of the sermon, p. 71 sqq., and especially p. 75 sqq., and also to 
consult the treatise on the principal themes of sermons. 

Literature. Above, in our treatise on Holy Scripture (pp. 92-165) 
and of liturgy, especially in the development of the ecclesiastical year, 
we have time and again pointed to the dogmatic side of these first sources. 
Now we recommend to the preacher, in next line, large and dogmatic 
works and especially the works of Willmer on Religion. (Detailed 
literature is found in the chapter on the ecclesiastical year.) Among 
the patristic literature we refer especially to the sermons of St. Augustin 
and of Leo the Great, of Chrysostom, hom. de resurrectione, de ascensione, 
horn. n. 1 and 2 de pentecost. Splendid models of dogmatic sermons and 
great wealth for many sermons are often found, sometimes in a single 
sermon, in the sermons on dogmas and mysteries of Bossuet, Bourdaloue, 
Massillon. Sermons on feasts and mysteries of Maccarthy, Wuerz, 
Tschuppik, Gretsch, Colmar, Ehrler, Eberhard, Foerster are also recom- 
mendable. Besides, Schork, Die Geheimnisse unseres Glaubens, Wuerz- 
burg, 1879, Thuille, sermons on the most important truths of religion, 

1 Consult, a. o., p. 53, d. p. 137-145, n. 21, 22, 23, and parallel, p. 169, 170; es- 
pecially the reviews of the eccl. year, p. 200 sqq, p. 506-510, p. 576-582, and also 
all the paragraphs on the eccl. year, p. 173, 5, to the final paragraph of the chapter 
p. 27 sqq. Compare also: Contents of sacred eloquence, the main theme Christ 
Jesus, p. 672. Compare also below; Apologetic sermons. 



7oo HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Freidburg, 1879, the sermons and conferences of Monsabre, P. Bougaud, 
the dogmas of the creed, Zollner; neue Bibliothek fur Prediger, Kate- 
chetische Predigten, Wermelskirchen, explanations of Schmitt's, Mehler's, 
and Deharbe's catechisms. A rich mine is furnished through Scherer's 
Predigtbibliothek. In regard to the real mystery and festive sermons 
we would again refer to Leo the Great, Augustin (see above), Bernard: 
sermones de nativitate, in die Paschali, etc., especially his highly expressive 
and uctuous addresses on Mary, f.i. de assumptione de aquaeductu, de 
homilia super Missus est. Again Bourdaloue, Bossuet, Maccarthy, 
Wuerz, Sailer, Gretsch, Colmar, Foerster, Ehrler, (Festpredigten) , Patiss: 
Predigten auf die Festedes Herrn, Massl: Festund Gelegenheitspredigten, 
Westermeyer: populaere Predigten auf samtliche Feste des Kirchenjahres, 
Hungari: Musterpredigten, Wiseman: Jesus and Mary, and especially 
Eberhard's Festpredigten, etc. Much matter is also furnished in the 
respective volumes of Scherer's Predigtbibliothek. 

§ 2. Apologetic Sermons 

1. The object of the apologetic sermon, in general. The defense 
of Christianity is as old as Christianity itself. The Gospels, espe- 
cially the fourth, bear unmistakable apologetic marks. And pre- 
cisely the Gospels have given direction to the apologetic sermon: 
it should be, above all, positively instructive, gently illuminating, 
and powerfully but tactfully defensive. The essence and the con- 
tents of Christianity, as well as its manifold attacks at various 
times and its different circles of hearers, determine the apologetic 
sermon. For our own times we wish to emphasize the following 
view-points: 

2. The object of the apologetic sermon for our modern times. 
The modern age needs most indispensably the apologetic sermon. 
The Catholic Church is being attacked from all sides in the most 
varied manner, in the chairs of universities as well as in the work- 
shop of the laborer. A great, learned, and extensively popular 
literature, as well as the great power of the Press, carry the attacks 
into all spheres. In our days of vast intercourse and publicity — 
in a certain sense — no parish and no person is spared by these 
attacks. Even the dweller in the most remote village is, in the 
course of life, not seldom transplanted into the midst of a great 
city. Therefore, every pastor of souls must supply some momen- 
tary and preventive defense of religion. Not infrequently are 
preventive apologetics too much neglected in the catechesis and 
sermon. Today every pastor of souls ought ask himself: To what 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 701 



dangers are the members of my parish mostly exposed, especially 
the more advanced youth immediately upon leaving school, in the 
formation of their avocation, in their studies, in the intercourse 
with the modern world, and in their peregrinations? Especially 
should the pastors of country parishes, which furnish a great con- 
tingency of the immigrants who flock into the large cities, into 
industrial centers, and into mixed communities, not lose sight of 
the great task of preventive apologetics. It is comparatively far 
better for young people to hear a reasonable measure of objections 
against the holy religion with an accompanying striking refutation 
from the Hps of their own pastor, of the catechist, and the preacher, 
either in the pulpit or in societies, rather than hear these objections 
first, to their great surprise and astonishment, in the workshop as 
an unheard novelty. It is just as important to arm the young 
people against the dangers of a city, in a prudent manner, and 
without any obtrusiveness, as it is to oppose an immoderate rush 
to them in a pastorally prudent manner. It is far more important 
to strengthen the population of a place, which is developed from 
a simple village into an industrial center or gathering of strangers, 
by a deep religious instruction, corresponding to our modern needs 
and dangers, than to preserve it by a mere possible pessimistic 
and unfruitful opposition, against such development, or even to 
attack in a one-sided manner, through imprudence and in an un- 
cathoiic way, industry and commerce, and to offend immigrant 
strangers from the start. It is an unpardonable pastoral mistake 
for those who have charge of souls to abandon only then the usual 
trend of sermons and of pastoration when the flood of enmity 
against the Church has already entered through the windows. 
It would, furthermore, be imprudent and unchristian to consider 
every cultural novelty merely from its weak side, and to ignore 
completely all of its relative good, to look with a distorted eye 
upon whatever may be new or upon newly arrived strangers or in- 
dustrial laborers, to insult them in a tactless manner, instead of being 
mindful of the word of the Saviour : euntes docete omnes gentes — 
omnia traham ad me ! What would have become of the world if the 
Apostles had clung to a narrow-minded, judaic-patriotic stand- 
point? What would have become of Europe if the Benedictines 
had withdrawn themselves from the contact of the incoming 
hordes of barbarians? It is likewise eminently unpsychological 
to permit oneself to be impeded in apologetic activity by national 



HOMXLETTC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



prejudices, or, on the contrary, to condemn unreservedly a certain 
national reaction, with which possibly only accidentally anti- 
religious elements are connected, instead of gaining over the 
Catholic elements of such a movement by a superior and an accom- 
modating spirit in regard to their claims. (Compare herewith what 
was said above, p. 27, on the teaching authority of Christ and of 
the Church in reference to our modern times.) 

3. The nature of this apologetic task. The following view-points, 
in particular, may be predominating: 

(a) Apologetics for daily use, i.e., a solid and forceful refutation 
of the most ordinary objections, catchwords, prejudices, and his- 
torical lies. In this a limitation to the argumenta ad hominem 
should not be permitted; on the contrary, the task must be under- 
taken with a perfect scientific seriousness, for the popularization 
of all ideas. For this purpose the armory, rather light in form, 
contained in the short answers to common objections against 
religion by Segur (edited by L. A. Lambert, LL.D. 1 ), might furnish 
powerful ammunition, also the "Schutz und TrutzwafTen," of 
P. Nilkes, would give many important points. 

(b) A thorough and stimulating treatment of the entire doc- 
trines of faith, of morals, and of grace, in the perfect light of Holy 
Scripture and of Tradition, with apologetic prospects. 

(c) The defense of the philosophic-natural foundations of revela- 
tion: the supernatural is based on the natural; our system is not 
suspended in the air. 

(d) A consciousness of the conviction that the so-called differ- 
ential doctrines are not merely some appendages and admissions 
to Christianity, but the sequels and the claims of the person of 
Christ, of His works and His doctrines. Catholicism is nothing 
less than Christ Jesus Himself, but the whole Christ, with all that 
follows and He claims for faith and life. Every sentence of the 
catechism, every precept of the Church, every grace of the Chris- 
tian is only a ray from Christ — the Sun. For us modern Catholics 
there is nothing more important than to place the person of Christ 
deep into the center of the sermon, especially of the apologetic 
sermon, and to show that all that we have is a sequel coming from 
Christ. 

(e) Treatment of the several differential doctrines in the modern 
sense, as opposed to the present Protestantism, rationalism, old 

1 Note of the translator. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 703 



Catholicism, etc., 1 according to the various tendencies. The greatest 
and most important doctrines of differentiation are contained today 
mainly in the clear, great, and deeply perceived personal concep- 
tion of God, of which the entire progress in natural sciences fur- 
nishes to the Catholic a really grand illustration: 2 then, in the 
perfect conception of the divinity of Christ, which we attain through 
the Gospels, through history, and through dogma, 3 — furthermore, 
in the clear and perfect conception of the Church, as presented to 
the modern world by the Vatican council; 4 in the firm, unadulter- 
ated conception of the supernatural life of grace, of the Christian 
moral life through grace and faith, not by mere natural means, 
and especially — in a clear, deep, and deeply felt instruction on 
the sacraments and their reception. We emphasize these thoughts, 
because our polemics are, here and there, too often lost in petty 
warfare, which, of course, is also important, but emphasizes too 
little the triumphant backgrounds and their bases. We should 
often return to the great "Either-Or" of the fundamental questions. 

(/) Upon this background should follow a clear and compact 
treatment of the several differential doctrines, errors, prejudices, 
calumnies, historical lies, and of public and private attacks. Here 
we again recommend: 

(g) A return to a description of the great Catholic view of 
God and of the world, in which the natural and the supernatural, 
the terrestrial and the divine, natural science and the Bible, the 
history of the Church and of the world, human power and divine 
grace, the individual and the social, coalesce into one harmonious 
whole, from which, finally, all questions and difficulties are answered, 
even though not every solution and harmonization be fully and 
conclusively settled today nor tomorrow. The Church, which 
through her infallible teaching authority proceeds with majestic 
calm and well-measured dignity into a restless world, remits often 
large fields to the wrangling and disputes of apologists after having 
herself prepared the fundamental way. This is the mode of apolo- 

1 Compare herewith, for the preacher and the catechist, the very interesting and 
stimulating brochure of Dr. Ph. Huppert: Der Deutsche Protestantism zu beginn 
des 20 sten. Jahrhunderts, Koeln, Bachem, 1902. Here the preacher will find a 
very rapid and extensive orientation, which is most valuable and will show him again 
where, on the contrary, the forces of Catholicism are concentrated. 

2 Compare our exposition of creation and religion, p. 104 sqq.; on culture and 
religion, p. 126 sqq., 546 sqq. 

3 Compare above the principal theme: Christ Jesus, p. 672 sqq. 

4 Compare hereon the following: The principal theme of a sermon, p. 666 sqq. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



getics which Leo XIII, as Bishop of Perugia, 1 in his pastoral letters 
on Church and civilization, as well as in his celebrated encyclicals 
of his entire pontificate, has so strongly recommended to us. (See 
above, p. 104 sqq.) We furthermore emphasize: 

(h) A special consideration of the cultured classes. The cul- 
tured classes of the present day are exposed to very peculiar dan- 
gers. The frightful apostasy of masses, in various circles of the 
same, imposes upon the clergy the very peculiar duty: to devote to 
these cultured classes special attention throughout the entire pas- 
toral office, which attention should be based on an apologetic and 
psychological study of the range of the thoughts of these cultured 
classes and with a prudent regard to their surroundings and inter- 
course, and, above all, show itself in solid, undiminished, unvar- 
nished, but pastorally prudent and discreet sermons. (See above, 
p. 79 sqq.) In connection herewith we will add, especially for 
these sermons, the following remarks: 

(a) The dignified popularity of solid, religiously and thoroughly 
illuminating and practically striking sermons attracts also the cul- 
tured. (See above, chapter on popular sermons, p. 78 sqq.) 

(/3) The popular preacher should by no means disregard the 
introduction of several trains of thought which are justified by 
the regular attendance of the cultured classes. But this should 
be done without any ostentation, with a necessary sense of dis- 
cretion, viewed from all sides. 

(y) A prudent, pastoral compliance is very advisable with 
regard to the cultured spheres who, f.i., in cities are accustomed 
to attend certain (late) masses and services. Here very brief, posi- 
tive, and apologetic cycles of sermons would be very advantageous. 

All objections against such suggestions are sufficiently answered 
simply by pointing to the oldest sermons and pastoral documents 
of the Church, to the Gospels themselves, and to the Apostolic 
Letters. Compare, f.i., in regard to the asserted view-points, the 
synoptic Gospels with that of St. John (see Belser, Einleitung in 
das N. T., pp. in, 112, 123 sqq., 319 sqq.), the addresses of Jesus 
in Galilee and Jerusalem, the epistle of James and the Pauline 
Letters. 

The saints of the Church never moved in beaten tracks. Nor 
did they display a passion for innovations. The one should be 
done and the other not omitted. 

1 See p. 1, n. 104. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 705 



A pastor and rector of a church will know how to use middle 
ways in this matter. The greatest difficulty exists where the 
invidia scribarum atque pharisaeorum combats senselessly and heart- 
lessly honest pastoral efforts and regard for modern conditions. 
Of course, we must not hereby forget that good never succeeds 
without a conflict, nor without a way of the cross, and also that 
among minds of the same opinion the principle ofttimes prevails: 
United we stand, divided we fall. (Compare the Acts of the 
Apostles: the momentary differences between Paul and Mark, 
Paul and Peter.) 

N.B. On the method of apologetic argumentation, see above: 
Means of sacred eloquence, pp. 642-645. 

Corollary. Considerable intellectual tendencies also cast their 
influences into the sphere of pastoral theology. We shall therefore 
here draw several homiletic sequences from this movement, which has 
been much connected with the much-talked-of and very exciting work 
of the university professor, Dr. Ehrhard. Ehrhard writes: "How many 
modern men could be led away from false notions and would return to 
the active faith of their forefathers if the Catholic pastor of souls were 
to treat them within the forms of their own culture, if he knew how to 
put the speech of their hearts into his sermons, if they did not find so 
much resistance and all sorts of ecclesiastical and pastoral measures, 
which, in Catholicism even, hold an entirely subordinate significance, 
but are presented to them by the ecclesiastical organs as the main thing 
in ecclesiastical life, and even as an essential part of Catholicism." 

The great battle over this book has been fought. We have expressed 
ourselves elsewhere (Schweiz. Kirchenztg. Jahrg. 1902, 1903, and in the 
" Vaterland" of Lucerne, sub. "g," 1902) very extensively in this matter, 
and, besides serious strictures, found much that is very valuable. The 
whole movement supplies even now, for pastoral sciences and directions, 
certain lessons. This induces us to give the following corollary, wherein 
we again follow our steadfast principle: omnia probate, et quod bonum 
est, tenete. In all these questions all explanations must be animated by 
a seriously emphasized, warm, and full sensus catholicus and spiritus fidei 
from the Catholic standpoint. This we need not emphasize particu- 
larly in the following explanations, since the spirit of these studies is 
not unknown to any reader. 

The ever triumphant view of God and of the world must be unfolded 
to the people and to the cultured classes, and, at the same time, brought 
as closely as possible in touch with the needs of modern times. It must 
be shown how all real conquests and progress furnish but new additions 



706 HOMELETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



to a deeper conception of the idea of God. (Compare p. 104 sqq.; p. 
73 SQQ-) Thus we may present "old truths in the language and accord- 
ing to the needs of modern times." Above all, should the sun of this 
view of God and of the world — Christ Jesus — His divine and human 
person, His life and works, His entire being, the full charm of His majesty 
and' of His love, cast their full light, in flesh and blood, in color and life, 
upon the modern generation. The Catholic must be made fully con- 
scious that, back of every dogma, back of every doctrine of Catholicism, 
stands Jesus. Every grace is life that proceeds from Him, every re- 
quirement of religion a precept that emanates from Him, every institu- 
tion of the Church one of his rays. Catholicism is nothing short of 
Jesus Himself, His person, His work, Christ with all His consequences, 
graces, precepts, and rights: Christ from within and from without, 
yesterday and today and Blessed for evermore. This Christ we must 
place into the modern world, direct to Him its needs. Catholicism is 
no old edifice with all kinds of arbitrary dependencies — it is a grand 
dome of Christ, with a rich and harmonious wreath of chapels, a central 
edifice, the radii of which all converge in Christ. This should impress 
itself upon the Catholic, especially on the Catholic of our day. (Consult 
the encyclical of Leo XIII "de Redemptore" of which we gave a homi- 
letic sketch on p. 219; see also our dissertation on Christ Jesus, p. 137, 
n. 21, and p. 142, n. 22, p. 672 sqq.) This sun — Christ Jesus — and 
the whole solar system of His grace and truth is not a mere meteor, of 
whose rising in former days romantic legends are recounted: the life- 
work of Christ — the Church — stands in the midst of the twentieth 
century, and is shown to the modern critical world, that she is the bearer 
of these divine words which Christ spoke to her and to her head : Thou 
art the rock, the shepherd of the lambs and of the sheep, and I will abide 
with you all days, even to the end of the world. And every word, 
every doctrine, every law, of this solar system of Christ and of the 
Church of Christ is also capable to stand a criticism before the modern 
world for itself and in connection with the whole. 

Precisely this whole view of God and of the world must oppose the 
modern age in an undiminished and unimpaired manner, but in the garb 
of modern thought, feeling, and language, in order to influence it effect- 
ively, mightily, and perseveringly. Never will the victory of religion 
be effected by " humanae sapientiae verbis" as the Apostle so strongly 
expresses it; never in words of earthly wisdom or in a pastoration of 
worldliness, of human respect or human fear. But the same Apostle, 
who energetically condemns such a falsification and dilution of the 
deposit of faith, has also proclaimed the great saying of the pastor of 
souls: Be all to all, to the Jews a Jew, to the Greeks a Greek. Even 
the pre-Christian revelation has established itself under Abraham and 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 707 



Moses among a nomadic people. Then it operated in a dividing and a 
planting manner in the wild and stormy and needy period of the times 
of the Judges, in the midst of the unfledged years of Israel's history, in 
spite of all the gloom and excesses of that period. Hereupon the religion 
of the Old Testament animated the greatly planned but still frothy 
political warlike formation period of David. It finally glorified Israel 
in those days, when the generation of Solomon surrounded the religious 
complexion of the people with a really gorgeous frame of a relatively 
high culture. But even then revelation assumed, at times, a glorifying 
position, at other times an eliminating but always natural one in a 
unique superior manner, but never a boasting one in Holy Scripture 
(consult the writings of Solomon), against the bright and shady side of 
civilization (see above, p. 122 sqq., and p. 126 sqq.). It was always the 
same religion, the same truth, but it knew how to intone different notes 
in the different needs of the times. In this line nothing is more instruc- 
tive than a perusal of the entire Holy Scripture, with a view-point of 
pragmatics and pastoration. Numerous writers, illumined by God, and 
entirely and variously independent of each other, of most different 
times and periods of culture, whose accumulated works form that exalted 
whole which we call Holy Scripture, lead us precisely in this Book of 
Books, from Genesis to the Apocalypse, along the current of revelation. 
And how variant is the proclamation of the one truth in view of the 
manifold necessities! And Christ Himself — how He speaks so 
differently to the simple people of Galilee — and so differently 
in the grand disputations with the cultured classes of Jerusalem; 
He has left with His Church the program : erunt omnes docibiles Dei — 
they will all become the apprentices of God! It is well known that we 
observe the same unique manifestations in the course of the ecclesiasti- 
cal history. It is therefore exceedingly correct that preachers should 
speak to their audiences in conformity to the culture of the age, and, 
in a certain sense, in the language of their hearts. But never ought 
these words be conceived in the sense that any minimizing of ecclesiasti- 
cal doctrine or that any ingenious talk in the cultural efforts of modern 
times, coupled with a few Christian rays, might gain any souls. We 
need, of course, not to state that we attach by no means such a meaning 
to the words of Ehrhard. 

The above quotation of Ehrhard contains, however, some miscon- 
ceptions. Ehrhard speaks of pastoral and ecclesiastical measures, of a 
subordinate significance which are now and then represented as princi- 
pal things in real life. 

If Ehrhard means hereby that ecclesiastical precepts and measures, 
f.i., the decrees of the index, the prohibition of cremation, etc., should 
not be represented as dogmas, but may be announced as serious, binding 



708 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ecclesiastical measures which are logical conclusions of articles of faith, 
and sequences of great scientific ecclesiastical view-points of law, if he 
means that the several ecclesiastical decrees and precepts must be 
explained in connection with the essence and the ideal purposes of the 
Church, that the modern world, in general, ought to be enlightened in 
the directive fundamental views of canon law according to the light of 
the Gospel, then we agree with him entirely. Aye, if Ehrhard wishes 
to say more, if he and others with him think that many ecclesiastical 
precepts, f.i., the prohibition of books, the practice of excommunication, 
the administration of the index, be capable of admitting many reforms 
and further developments, we would have no objection. Such sug- 
gestions would be very valuable, especially when there is question of 
the codification of canon law and of its further development. These 
are, of course, always to be made in a clear manner and with all due 
respect for authority, and should be indicated in ways sanctioned by 
canon law. It has already been mentioned before that the Vatican 
council had many such propositions submitted to it. Pius IX and 
Leo XIII have already made many not inconsiderate changes, among 
others some for the practice and absolution from excommunication 
and for the administration of the index, upon which a future council 
may continue to build, etc. Leo XIII, a few years ago, through a 
u motu propria" occasioned striking reforms in matters of dispensations, 
etc. But it is never allowed to regard slightingly the practise and the 
ecclesiastical political programs of the Church in a few ingenious sen- 
tences. Church laws are binding. 

If the Catholics esteem highly and firmly the unadulterated and 
undiminished fulness of Catholic truth, then they are also permitted, 
in a certain sense of generous freedom, to consider the work of modern 
culture, to judge it and take part in it. It would thus be mightily im- 
prudent and even unjust if preachers and speakers were always to refer 
only in a sarcastic tone to "humanitarian silliness" of modern times. 
Humanitarianism is a great and noble issue of our modern fife. Aye, 
the humanitarian sense has sprung from the soil of Christianity, and has 
today taken hold of circles that stand aloof from Christianity. But 
this should give rise to joy rather than to fear. Aye, we might ardently 
wish that in the days of the sad trials of witchcraft humanitarianism 
could have already interfered as that public ethical and mighty power 
which it is justly regarded from all sides today. However it is also the 
duty of Catholicism to distinguish false from true humanitarianism. 
True humanitarianism sees in a fellow-man- an immortal soul, the grace 
of Christ, or, at least, a call for this grace; it sees in the fellow-man the 
noble human nature created by God; still more, far beyond this, it sees 
the Christian dignity or, at least, the vocation thereto. Therefore the 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 709 



Church cannot be satisfied with a mere humanitarianism. She proclaims 
that which is Christian. She is opposed to a humanitarianism which 
is exclusively and alone interested in earthly usefulness and has for the 
care and the baptism of the child, for the Catholic education of the 
youth, or for the inner conversion of one who deviated from the true 
path only an insignificant smile. The Church rejects humanitarianism 
which separates itself from God and religion and wishes to replace all 
by a worldly humanitarianism and utility in a loud and boastful manner. 
She always keeps her eye on the natural good, even though it appear 
separated from the religion of Christ. The Church has, indeed, con- 
demned the proposition that the natural virtues of pagans are crimes. 
But the humanitarian efforts, which are proclaimed and effected in 
opposition to religion, she regards, with St. Augustin, " grandes passns 
extra viam" — great steps taken off the right road. She hopes, indeed, 
that the human and worldly good become for many a way to return to 
God, where grace is very often attached to what is earthly and humanly 
noble. He who takes offense at this position of the Church, in regard 
to humanitarianism, takes offense at Christ Himself. The Church by 
no means prevents Catholics from learning much from humanitarian 
organizations that are outside of the Church, or even from Protestant 
circles and neutral institutions. Christ said to the Samaritan woman 
at Jacob's well: You adore that which you know not. We (the Jews) 
adore that which we know, for salvation is by the Jews. (John, c. 4.) 
The Saviour nevertheless pointed out the generously practised love of 
neighbor by the Samaritan woman as an example for His own kingdom. 
In a most graceful manner does P. Meschler, S.J., in his most excellent 
Life of Jesus (I vol. pp. 235 and 236), emphasize the liberty of the law, 
the nobility of character, the temperate and noble liberty of the Saviour 
in His conduct toward the Samaritan woman, which He manifested with- 
out in the least diminishing the severity of religious truths and ecclesias- 
tical requirements. In the more limited sphere of law two things must 
be sharply distinguished: the unchangeable principle of the canon law 
which has possibly grown from the essence of the Church herself, as a 
free, sovereign society, founded by God, and the proper formation of 
this principle in a definite time. How different, f.i., are the ecclesiastical 
requirements on fasting, on excommunication, in different times! To 
this may be added a third : the individual Catholic has no right to follow 
the fashion of the day in regard to ecclesiastical precepts. It is the duty 
of every Catholic to hear the Church and to observe her laws. Some- 
thing far different would it be for an ecclesiastical organ to transgress 
the law, and its own competency guaranteed by the law. The mere 
expression of a wish, of a movement for a greater unification of the 
precept of fasting, of the limitation and simplification of dispensations 



710 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 

is surely nothing uncatholic. It must, however, not be distorted into 
a fundamental and disrespectful faultfinding and a blustering spirit of 
reform. We will add still a fourth thought: it is necessary to explain, 
from all sides, an ecclesiastical measure in regard to the needs and the 
peculiarity of modern times and to bring the comprehension thereof 
into closer touch with the contemporaries. Many of the cultured classes 
sin, however, manifestly inasmuch as they simply avoid sermons, 
addresses, literature, and the press, which can and do present rich 
expositions in this matter, so that we are often reminded of the words 
of Holy Scripture placed in the mouth of certain people : scientiam viarum 
tuarum nolumus: the explanation of your ways we do not want! 

Let us select a few examples. The Catholic Church is the proclaimer 
and the administrator of the Kingdom of Christ, instituted by Him as 
such. If therefore a Catholic should not recall before his hour of death, 
a deed, a mode of living, which brings him directly and fundamentally 
in conflict with the Church, then, in certain cases, the Church refuses 
Christian burial. This measure may fall heavily upon the relatives, 
and is also unpleasant for the pastor of souls. But the Church desires 
to announce through these measures, in the midst of a modern world, 
that she regards the great principles and duties of Catholics as something 
very serious. She desires to show to and before the whole world that 
certain things are not compatible with Catholic life and with the spirit 
of Christianity. So also in regard to the law of mixed marriages. The 
Church does not condemn the consciences of non-Catholics, who, in good 
faith, strive to attain truth and to whom — even according to Catholic 
doctrine — the grace of God may be granted in some extraordinary way. 
Aye, she counts many, in a spiritual manner, as belonging to the soul of 
the Church. But the Church regards herself with perfect right the 
protector and bearer of the revelation of Christ. She knows that the 
inexhaustible riches of the Gospel are deposited with her. The preser- 
vation and the development of this treasure is her first duty. Therefore, 
the Church must also insist, with all possible energy, that precisely there 
where it is, above all, necessary — in the Catholic family — this deposit 
of faith must not be lost. Therefore does she threaten, when the lan- 
guage of love no longer obtains, with drastic measures, with excommuni- 
cation and with a refusal of burial, f.i., a Catholic father, who, if free to 
do so, does not rear his children as Catholics. This is again a measure 
at which many are offended, because they fail to realize the deep sense 
and the fundamental sequence of this law, which flows from dogma 
itself. The Church goes a long way — she permits, though reluctantly, 
mixed marriages, but the responsibility of the Catholic party to trans- 
mit to his children the Catholic religion as the dearest heritage, she will 
not nor can she disregard. The Church absolutely demands from the 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 711 



Catholic groom or bride of a mixed marriage, the Catholic training of 
all children, even under menace of punishment. This simply means a 
strict attention to religion and to religious education. In this regard 
the Church will never acknowledge the principle: It matters not what 
religion you profess. Forever will the echo of the words of Christ re- 
sound within her : " He who is not with me is against me; he who gathers 
not with me, scattereth." We are lacking space to illustrate this law 
more fully. But we must make these ecclesiastic measures intelligent 
to modern men in the forms of their own culture and with the language 
of their own hearts. These are really consequences that follow from the 
principles of our religion. And even in the midst of these sharpest 
consequences the Church does not desire to decide the inmost condition 
of a soul departed, against which she was forced to apply the law, though 
many reasons would justify a fear for the worst. 

But there are also very serious laws and precepts of the Church which 
are not so closely connected with faith and fidelity thereto, as are those 
just mentioned, which, however, the Church emphasizes with a great 
seriousness. Thus, f.i., the cremation of a body does not violate any 
article of faith. In itself it is, moreover, nothing evil. But such as cre- 
mation now manifests itself, it appears as an unnecessary, hateful, and anti- 
religious conflict against the Christian mode of burial which the Church 
has assumed into her rite and connected most intimately therewith. 
There seems to be an inconsiderate violation of the deepest Christian 
symbol contained therein, which even Holy Scripture, Christian antiquity, 
and a long-sanctioned and solemnized tradition has connected with burial. 
Its movement also contains a laicization and secularization of the bless- 
ing of the dead in our Christian society. Though no dogma is hereby 
violated, the soul finds its way to the Creator, whether the body be con- 
sumed in fire, buried in the sea, or corrupt as a seed in the earth — still, 
the Church opposed, with all her severity this new fad, as the defender 
and protector of a public, living Christian custom and of this Christian im- 
press of the entire community. She therefore denies the sacraments and 
public Christian burial to a Catholic who perseveres perfectly and 
voluntarily to the end in his own personal order of cremation. If cre- 
mation be done through the will of another, no ecclesiastical punishment 
follows. Should a general pest or death of masses make cremation 
necessary, highly advantageous, and practical, then the punitive law of 
the Church would certainly not be applied. In certain parts of India, 
where cremation is of primeval custom, the Church adheres, indeed, to 
the customary Christian burial, but has directed the missionaries not 
to apply to converts, in case of cremation, the ecclesiastical punishment, 
but to be passive, in order to prevent greater scandals. (Thus, f.i., is 
the conclusion of the propaganda fide of Sept. 27, 1884.) 



712 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



We have inserted this excursus, for a better appreciation of the 
ecclesiastical precepts, in order to give an example to show under what 
view-points these difficult things should be treated, especially before 
cultured audiences. 

Literature. We recommend, above all, the study of the more emi- 
nent Apologists: Hettinger (latest ed. by Dr. Muller), for depth of 
thought, the emphasizing of central dogmas and of main themes, for 
his psychological method and classical style — still unexcelled. Schanz, 
who offers the best in the natural-scientific (I vol.) and exegetic-arche- 
ological sphere (II and III vol.) ; Gutberlet, a real authority in regard 
to the most modern tendencies in the sphere of comparative religion and 
psychology; Schell (so far the I vol. of the second edition 1 has appeared) , 
noted for his great knowledge of modernists, for his research into their 
most important points of truths, and for his intellectual conception of 
the same. His irenic and unique acts are very stimulating for pastoral 
work. Schell's mistakes, however, might lead, in sermons and pastora- 
tion, to really dangerous and false ways. We are here reminded of a 
by far too wide and uncertain removal and effacing of fixed positive 
limitations of lines and of consequences of the teachings of the Church, 
through an excessive irenic meeting of those who stand aloof. Schell con- 
siders herein too little the living and constantly active magisterium 
ordinarium of the Church, especially in his explanations of mortal sin, 
hell, purgatory, etc. It is not sufficient to fall back merely upon the 
ex cathedra definitions. Of course, Schell's warning that it must be well 
considered what a frightful import is expressed by the word mortal sin, is 
well put. The objective notion of mortal sin should most surely not be 
too hastily applied to subjective cases, without paying regard to the 
obstacula voluntatis, to the unique cases of ignorance, of violent confusion, 
of hereditary strain, of a fundamentally perverse education, etc., etc. 
These marks of a kind mercy the preacher must take into consideration. 
Aye, it is often very advisable that the homilist first develop the full con- 
cept of mortal sin with a theological clearness, with measure and pru- 
dence, without any exaggeration, and then with a perfect seriousness in 
the most important theme on mortal sin or against some particular mortal 
sins. (Most important points are found in LehmkuhPs great Theologia 
moralis, in Gopfert, Noldin, Pesch, etc.) The doctrine of Holy Scripture, 
especially contained in the catalogue of mortal sins given in the Pauline 
letters, is clear and definite. In spite of certain obscurations, tradition 
is full of most positive directions. And it is, furthermore, impossible 
that practical and extremely important notions, like those of mortal 
sin, hell, purgatory, etc., could possibly have been falsely explained under 
the eyes of the infallible magisterium ordinarium of the Church for 
1 After the decree of the Index, with Episcopal approbation. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 713 



centuries. The instigations and the questioning of Schell might really 
have been, at times, advantageous to theology and homiletics. But never 
should instigation and questioning excite a stormy and novelty-seeking 
influence on the sermon and catechesis : the definite sense and the clear 
indications of Holy Scripture, of tradition, and especially of the closest 
attitude of the magisterium ordinarium of the Church, must be sought 
in all seriousness and conscientiousness as a homiletic norm and guide to 
truth. We will mention also the following apologists: De Groot, Summa 
apologetica, develops with special erudition, in a clear scholastic style, 
especially the Church, the sources of revelation, and the way of intelli- 
gent Christian thought and faith; Hammers tein, who gives in many of 
his writings direct, solid, rich, and often happily grouped material to 
preachers; P. Weiss, a guide, through his great and deep conceptions 
of the apologetics of Christian life, [the general index furnishes, for the 
preacher, a wealth of homiletic thoughts] ; Nicoles : Philosophical studies 
on Christianity, still offers many intellectual and fruitful points, etc. 
The preacher should also peruse the rich apologetic separate literature, 
also the very many interesting and homiletically fruitful articles in 
theological and other periodicals. He should also follow the status of 
a faithful exposition of the hexaemeron, the biblical introductions and 
the harmony of the Gospels. The study of a number of conferences of 
some noted German and French preachers is likewise very useful. With- 
out the slightest claim to completeness, we should like to call attention 
also to a selection of smaller apologetic brochures, which often offer good 
service to the preacher: P. J. J. Schaffmacher, S.J., Controvers-Kate- 
chismus fiir Katholiken und Protestanten ; P. Secondo Franco, S.J., 
a textbook on popular answers to common objections against religion; 
Aug. Egger, Bishop of St. Gall, Atheism, etc.; P. v. Hammerstein, S.J., 
select works. I. Edgar, or "From Pantheism to truth." II. The 
happiness of being a Catholic. Proof of the existence of God. Supple- 
ment to Edgar; Dr. H. Engel, Die grossten Geister iiber die hochsten 
Fragen; Dr. Mayer, die theolog. Gottesbeweisse und der Darwinismus; 
Msgr. Emil Bougaud, the Dogmas of the creed; P. Julian Mullendorff, 
S.J., Der Glaube an den Auf erstandenen ; Dr. J. Hildebrand, Das 
Wunder und das Christen turn; Dr. Anton Michelitsch, Hackelismus 
und Darwinismus; Dr. Ceslaus M. Schneider, Christus und die mensch- 
liche Gesellschaft; John Schmid: Petrus in Rom, or: Novae vindiciae 
Petrinae; P. Andreas Hamerle, C.S.S.R., Zu wem sollen wir gehen? 
or: Wo ist Christus? P. Didon, The indissolubility of marriage and divorce; 
Prof. Dr. Wilh. Waagen, Das Schopfungsproblem; Phil. Laicus, Zwolf 
Brief e iiber den Gottesglauben ; P. Peter Milkes, S.J., Schutz- und 
Trutz-waffen; P. Georg Freund, C.S.S.R., Beleuchtung anti-religioser 
Schlagworter; Dr. P. Bernard M. Lierheimer, O.S.B., Christliches 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Leben und moderne Ideen; Dr. Rob. Klimsch, Wege zur Kirche; many 
writings of X. Wetzel, etc., etc. The preacher ought not to ignore these 
smaller writings. 

§ 3. Moral Sermons 

The main object of a sermon is life, supernatural life: ut vitam 
habeant et abundantius habeant. (See above, pp. 34, 35, 36, 38, 
2nd, p. 72.) From this, precisely, follows the great significance of 
the moral sermon, which is directly concerned with practical- 
religious life, and desires to gain, to form, and to educate it for 
Christ. 

In the detailed treatment of Holy Scripture and of the ecclesi- 
astical year we have already paid considerable attention to the 
moral sermon and in the chapter on the practical sermon (espe- 
cially Art. Ill and IV, p. 65 sqq., and p. 71 sqq.) we have fully 
spoken of the moral side of the sermon and of the moral sermon 
itself. Here we wish to recall again the principles, there men- 
tioned, on moral application (pp. 72-74), and also our explanations 
of the emotions so highly important for the moral sermon (p. 28 sqq., 
and especially p. 645 sqq.). We will content ourselves here with 
several fundamentally important and directly practical suggestions. 
(See p. 303 sqq.) 

1. The contents of the moral sermon. The preacher should 
popularize the solid and positive, and, in a measure, some of the 
parts of casuistic moral theology. Catholic morality is the morality 
of human dignity. Its principle is: Age secundum naturam: be a 
whole man in all your relations to God, to yourself, and to your 
neighbor. The preacher will do well to remind his hearers occa- 
sionally of sound, sensible thoughts and life, in a measure of the 
noble, but never from God separated human nature, above all, 
of the noble, sound judgment of human reason in the conscience, 
which applies the natural God-given law to the particular cases 
of life. (Formation of conscience.) But Catholic morality is more. 
It is the morality of human dignity. Between man and the Chris- 
tian there is an essential difference. The Christian is "for the 
second time" supernaturally "born," he possesses a second super- 
natural life (of grace) (see pp. 90 and 162), and for this supernatural 
life he also possesses a supernatural light, faith, which publishes 
the Christian law and illumines conscience thereby. The Chris- 
tian conscience thus illumined measures our life first in the fullest 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 715 



sense. Therefore it may be said that the first principle of Chris- 
tian morality is: Age secundum naturam elevatam: act according 
to your nature elevated by grace, according to your Christian 
dignity. You have life — grace. Build yourself into this life. 
Follow the motion of grace and the law of Christ which will show 
you the aim and the way of grace very clearly. (N. T. — the law 
of grace.) For this reason Catholic morality is the morality of 
the Gospel. The Gospel points out the only splendid, exalted, and 
still- to-us so near image of Christ. (See above, p. 137, n. 21.) The 
duty, however, of the moral preacher is comprised in these words: 
My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be 
formed in you. (Gal. 4: 19.) The moral sermon should therefore 
endeavor to form Christ in Christians. This labor is a twofold 
one: it is the labor of the sculptor, who chisels away some greater 
or smaller chips — sins and characteristic faults — in order to 
make souls like unto Christ. Herein the preacher is aided by a 
casuistic schooling, which sharpens the eyes, preserves against 
exaggerations, and urges above all fulfilment of duty. For this, 
however, the preacher needs a good ascetic training, which is 
obtained through meditation, through personal conflict, through 
ascetic reading, and through activity in the confessional. For the 
negatively moral sermon must not degenerate into a dry enumera- 
tion of sins. It should rather lead to a serious, logical activity on 
the via purgativa. We recommend to the homilist, who is really 
in search of the proper way, the exercises of St. Ignatius, the works 
of De Ponte and Scaramelli, and especially the treatise on the prin- 
ciples of life by Pesch: "The religious life" (very instructive for 
moral sermons), Pesch: The Christian in the world, P. Weiss, his 
apologetics and smaller moral-ascetic works, and especially the 
Erziehungskunst, by Alban Stolz, and his writings in general. 1 
The other still more important work is that of the sculptor. 
It is a question of placing the features of Christ and of His morality 
in a living, touching, and practical manner before the souls of the 
audience, to paint them, as it were, therein. This is done by hom- 
ilies on the Gospels, by well executed and worked out substantial 
thoughts, taken from the Epistles (compare herewith our explana- 
tion of the ecclesiastical year), by the development of a system of 

1 Compare also some of the suggestions relative to this subject, f.i., on the First 
Sunday of Advent, on the First Sunday of Lent, and throughout the ecclesiastical 
year. 



716 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



virtues (compare St. Thomas' Summa II. II., Portmann, System 
der Summa des hi. Thomas, 2. ed.; A. Meyenberg, Die kathol. 
Moral als Angeklagte), by a practical-ascetic treatment of several 
virtues, by striking sermons on the principal precepts, the Deca- 
logue and the Sermon on the Mount. (See above, p. 115; pp. 127, 
128; pp. 329-335, and especially the Sundays after Pentecost.) 

The moral sermon should gather its contents from the ideal 
and from casuistic morality, but, above all, from positive ideal 
morality. Both — the ideal and the casuistic morality — should 
be guardian angels to humanity, the one directing and animating 
in the garment of an Easter light, leading through the various roads 
of this life, to the end. The other mercifully descending, redeeming, 
and extricating from all the entanglements of sin, not breaking the 
cracked reed nor extinguishing the glimmering wick. The way 
of both leads to Christ: the ideal morality is guide, the casuistic 
is a handmaid. The moral teaching upon these ways follows the 
word of the Saviour: Be ye simple as the doves (by grace and 
virtue always proceeding toward the end) and prudent as the 
serpent (straggling along, at all cost, without sin or by wrenching 
oneself away from it). Several closer indications about the liter- 
ature, the material and its formation, are found above, p. 317: 
Moral sermons for Lent, under the title of: Principal themes. 

2. The method of moral sermons. We desire to call attention 
to the following principal points: 

(a) Avoid mere general moralizing and not practically striking 
themes. 

(b) Form the matter clearly and interestingly, not merely 
according to an academic fashion and generally known catechetic 
applications. Excellent dispositions are found in Bourdaloue, 
Segneri, Sailer, and Colmar. 

(c) Observe, above all, the principles of the practical fixing of 
aims and of practical applications. (See above, pp. 65-77.) 

(d) Present clear and thoroughly explained moral doctrine 
before proceeding to individual applications. For this the moral 
theology of Noldin will furnish excellent help. 

(e) Treat the moral themes not merely morally, but also dog- 
matically, from the standpoint of the doctrines of faith: Justus ex 
fide vivit. Here the moral theologies of Miiller, Gopfert, Lehm- 
kuhl, Linsenmann, Hirscher, and Sailer would be of great value. 

(/) Treat moral themes also ascetically, by permitting them 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 717 



to become animated by the spirit of a Christian interior life (com- 
pare, f.i., above, pp. 261, 262; pp. 267-270), and thereby kindly 
proceeding to the several means and practises of Christian life. 
(Compare some of the examples, pp. 68-72, p. 180 sqq., theme V; 
p. 183 sqq., theme 10; p. 187 sqq., theme D; p. 188 sqq., theme F.; 
p. 195 sqq., themes K, L, M, N; p. 216 sqq., n. II; p. 238 sqq., 
Ill, 1; p. 243, V; p. 249, n., 2. p. 314 sqq.; p. 328 sqq., § 36, entire.) 

(g) Show, above all, the greatness of the guilt and the inex- 
pressible misfortune of mortal sin, but also the infidelity of venial 
sin, but distinguish herein the venial sin of weakness and of malice. 
But a spirit of exhortation and encouragement to constantly re- 
newed conflict with the power of the grace of God should permeate 
every sermon. Compare, pp. 59 sqq., 60 sqq., 67 sqq.; pp. 176- 
179; pp. 270-274; p. 280-289; p. 117 sqq., sixth question; p. 344 
sqq.; pp. 364, 365 sqq., etc. 

(h) The "Thou shalt not" should not merely be preached, but 
also the beauty, the exaltation, the grace, and the honor of the 
precepts and the illuminating side of the virtues in our life. (See 
P- 35°> § 37 a 'J He who can point out the real meaning of a Sun- 
day, the full meaning of consecration of holy mass, and show what 
a parochial service signifies, will combine therewith much more 
fruitfully the precept "Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath " with a 
substantial explanation, than he who merely lays before his hearers 
a budget of duties and elaborates them in a spiritless manner. 
(Compare point c.) 

(i) Institute a sort of a school of self-denial and of carrying the 
cross, but in the spirit of Christ, whose yoke is sweet and whose 
burden is light. (Compare above, pp. 88, 89. The preacher should 
live, as it were, especially in the spirit of the "imitation of Christ"; 
compare also our paragraphs on Holy Week, the stimulations of 
which are also adapted for other sermons.) 

(j) A well-prepared sermon on the sixth commandment ought 
be delivered from time to time. A thoroughly prepared and 
minutely elaborated sermon de sexto, which combines with a full 
seriousness of the word of God moral theological precision, with a 
correct distinction between the perfect-voluntary and the semi- 
voluntary, between* that which is merely tolerated and voluntarily 
sought, and which mixes with emotions of fear also those of hope and 
of conversion, and which understands how to combine with an urging 
of an absolute breaking away from the perfect-voluntary sin, also 



718 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



an encouragement to a constantly renewed conflict and a reception 
of the sacraments by the habitual sinner — such a sermon is ever 
like a shot at a center. The ex professo treated theme belongs to 
the most difficult tasks of the homilist. Exhortations on de sexto 
and de peccatis contra sextum may oftentimes be effectively com- 
bined with sermons on the Passion of Christ, f.i., with the scene 
on Mount Olive, the scourging, etc. Such sermons may often be 
treated as antitheses to certain Gospels, f.i., to the transfigura- 
tion of Christ on the II. Sunday of Lent (compare herewith trie 
Epistle, p. 279 B), or as a sensus accomodatus to certain pregnant 
passages of Holy Scripture and of liturgy (f.i., p. 223, note 1, feast 
of St. John, theme I and IV: The Holy Innocents: Rachel plorans 
filios suos et noluit consolari: quia non sunt: The Church is a Rachel, 
weeping over her children who, through impurity in a healthy life 
of the body and the life of the soul "are no more," etc.). Often 
do the epistles of Sundays present occasions for a theme de sexto 
(see p. 59). But one must guard against injecting into the sermon 
unnecessary offensive casuistics. Nor does every word, good in 
itself or serious, become the young and old preacher alike. A more 
detailed, decent instruction in regard to the essential usus matri- 
monii belongs to an instruction given directly to the marrying 
couple in relation to marriage. In the sermon, on rare occasions, 
a few serious words will suffice, f.i., in connection with a sermon 
on the scourging of Christ, or in a sermon on the family, f.i. : Before 
the column of the scourging, at which the Saviour stands before us 
today in infinite misery and inexpressible pain, not I, but the Holy 
Ghost Himself cries out to you: Keep your families faithful and 
pure. There is a chastity in keeping with one's station in life. 
By the order of the Spirit of God Himself the Apostle wrote : Mulier 
salvabitur per filiorum generationem. (I Tim. 2: 15.) The woman 
shall be saved through child-bearing. The blessing of children is 
the blessing of God. The work and the care of a father and of 
a mother amidst their children in pure, noble marriage belongs to 
the most exalted that exists under God's sun. But he who seeks 
in the holy state of matrimony mere pleasure, without the burden 
and the duty, commits, according to the words of Holy Scripture, 
"an abomination." God therefore punished; even in the Old 
Law, Onan most frightfully. The preacher should then pass on 
to some other thought at once. In regard to company-keep- 
ing, see the suggestions on p. 243. A very practical treatise, 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 719 



homiletically considered, on de sexto is found in the moral theology 
of Pruner. 

A train of thoughts, which might be easily developed, is the 
following: Impurity is a destroyer (a murderer) of life, of health, 
of the mind (I Cor. 2: 14), of grace (I Thess. 4: 3-7; II Cor. 2: 15; 
Eph. 2: 13; Rom. 13: 12, 13; Apoc. 22: 15); of faith (the root of 
justification), I Cor. 2: 14, and of a whole paradise of virtues which 
the Holy Ghost has planted. For the thesis: the positively 
intended, fully and completely voluntary sin against the sixth 
commandment is a mortal sin, a murder of grace, deserving of 
hell — consider the entire manner of speech and indignation ex- 
pressed in Holy Scripture in regard to this sin in the Old Law (the 
deluge — Sodom — Onan), the sharp and serious words of St. Paul 
to the rising and blooming Christianity in the New Law (I Cor. 6 : 
9-10; Gal. 5: 19; Eph. 5:5); the whole seriousness of the teaching 
and education of the Church — the great theologians. (Cf. especially 
Lehmkuhl's moral theol., I. vol., also Noldin, Miiller, Pruner.) 

(k). Do not forget to deliver occasionally a somewhat detailed 
sermon on the seventh commandment: too little is said on this 
subject. The preacher should consult moral tracts on the essence 
of justice, its obligations in general and in particular, on contracts, 
on restitution, also good catechetical commentaries on the seventh 
commandment. Excellent ideas are contained in Alban Stolz's 
Erziehungskunst, and in the moral theology of Pruner and Hir- 
scher, and also in the V. vol. of Weiss' Apologie. The preacher 
should also touch upon thoughts concerning economy, industry, 
religious and solid self-promotion of the family, the praise of 
honest poverty, ideas on a just compensation of labor, Christian 
principles on contracts, respect to civil laws in this matter, exhor- 
tations against contracting debts, careless speculation, and the 
ruination of families, on the timely payment of accounts by all who 
are able, on the education of youth in honesty and veracity, etc. 

(/) Develop Christian social themes from time to time, either 
ex professo or occasionally in connection with suitable days and 
feasts, f.i., on Christmas, the feast of the Holy Family, of St. 
Joseph, etc., or in connection with some suitable Gospel, f.i., of 
the rich draught of fishes. An attentive reading and a serious study 
of the encyclical Rerum Novarum will show the preacher most 
quickly what social ideas are suitable for the pulpit. (See above, 
pp. 242 sqq., 333 sqq.) Such themes are: The Christian concept 



72o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of the family (see pp. 242-249), private property and its limits. 
Several reasons for private property and its serious and solid acquisi- 
tion. Jesus Himself has sanctified the rational preservation and 
increase of property at Nazareth, since He aided with His divine- 
human hand to build up the home of Joseph and of the Holy Family 
— the announcement of the social benefits of the Church and the 
social efforts of the Church herself. Then he should touch, in 
great outlines, the duties of the State — the co-operation of justice 
and charity — the principles of the compensation of labor and the 
substitutes thereof; occasionally the great fundamental thoughts 
on strikes, revolutions, etc. — the social principles of the — Our 
Father; the sermon on the Mount, 1 etc., the retailers of the lies 
and truths of socialism, etc. 

The preacher should, however, guard against a manner of presenta- 
tion and separate explanations which would convert the sermon 
into a society address. The details and the technically scientific 
belong to social conferences, courses, society addresses, and dis- 
cussions. However, it should be evident from religious-social 
sermons that the homilist is not a tyro in this field, and that he 
regards apologetics and positive labor not too lightly. Oftentimes 
some very occasional remarks, placed within the foundation of the 
mysteries of faith, are immensely fruitful. The homilist who can- 
not devote himself precisely to special social studies, will do well 
to introduce himself first into these questions through a thorough 
study of the encyclical: Reruni novarum, on the negative side, by 
Cathrein: "Der Socialismus," from the positive side, by Bieder- 
lak: "Die sociale Frage," or post himself through the social writ- 
ings of Dr. Hitze and Dr. Eberle, besides follow, through the 
reading of social periodicals, the progress of the movement, and, 
for his social pastoration and society work, supply himself, from 
all sides, with literature in order to approach as near as possible, 
the intentions of the Church and the local practical needs. Ethics, 
the philosophy of justice and especially moral theology, must have 
first laid the foundation. But the main thing is furnished — after 
a certain theoretic training — by an insight into the practical life 
and by the intercourse and exchange of ideas with the socially 
occupied pastor of souls and intelligent laymen, as well as by the 
pastoral direction of societies. 

1 See the interesting sermons of the Aux. Bishop, H. J. Schmitz, Die acht Selig- 
keiten und die Versprechungen der Socialdemokratie, 2 ed., 1898. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 721 



(m) The preacher should exhibit great care in the presentation 
and language, since moral sermons become very easily dry, cold, 
and weak, aye, even low without this better treatment. He who 
has penetrated into the spirit of Holy Scripture and of liturgy will 
more easily avoid this danger. The overpowering force of ideas 
and antitheses of Holy Scripture, the directness of the moral ideas 
and demands presented, the classical measures and their simplicity 
as well as the penetrability of the thoughts and of the words, under 
circumstances bound up therewith, which are proper to Holy 
Scripture and to liturgy, will exert a uniquely fructifying and mov- 
ing influence upon these moral sermons. (See pp. 81-89.) Then 
the preacher ought intersperse into his moral addresses practical 
images, comparisons and parables, historical sketches, suitable 
and critically examined examples, ethical descriptions (see p. 76), 
and emotions (pp. 646-657). He should then return to the study 
and the meditation of the third part of the Gospel of St. Matthew 
(c. 4-8) : Jesus the teacher. 

Among the writings of the Fathers we call attention to the homilies 
of St. John Chrysostom on Matthew, to many moral addresses of Gregory 
the Great, and especially to St. Basil's horn. 6 in Mud: Destruam horrea; 
horn. 7 in divites ; horn. 1 dejejunio, to St. Ambrose de Nabuthe et usura 
(a classical address on the social question of the day, see above, p. 638, 
n. b). An interesting criticism of the social literature of the ecclesiasti- 
cal Fathers is found in Ratzinger's history of the ecclesiastical care of 
the poor. On the social ideas of the Fathers in regard to property, its 
limitations and obligations, see Cathrein: Moral Philosophic, II t. I, 
Abt. IV. B. III. A. § 5, pp. 279-286. We also recommend the easily 
accessible homiletic-ascetic writings of St. Cyprian. 

§ 4. Sermons on the Means of Grace 

Sermons on grace and the means of grace are, at the same time, 
dogmatic and moral addresses. 

The supernatural life, which the sermon effects, flows to Chris- 
tians through the means of grace; therefore the explanation of 
the means of grace and the great range of duty in regard to the 
means of grace belong to the first and most important duties of 
the preacher. We have, however, considered this field in the 
treatment of Holy Scripture, especially during the development of 
the ecclesiastical year, and, furthermore, in many other places of 



722 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



these homiletic studies so extensively, and from so many view- 
points and partly also so systematically, that we may here simply 
refer to it. 

1. On prayer: see the principal themes of sermons, especially 
the I. Sunday of Advent, p. 60 sqq.; p. 68, and especially pp. 180- 
182, theme V, also Rogation Sunday and Rogation week, pp. 482- 
492, and likewise in other numerous considerations, presentations 
of material and suggestions. 

2. On the reception of the sacraments, grace, and the means 
of grace in general: 

(a) Systematically: See: Cycles on the Easter sacraments, p. 
307 sqq. 

(b) Incidentally: See our treatise and plans for sermons for 
the I. Sunday of Advent, for Christmas, Low Sunday, Pentecost, 
etc. On grace itself, see p. 87 sqq., p. 162 sqq., and Holy Saturday. 
(See p. 398 sqq., and especially p. 402, etc.) 

Article II. The Exegetic Sermon in a Homiletic Method 

§ 1. The Homily 

Many preachers and even homilists seem to be merely acquainted 
with the thematic-thesis sermon, which had already been prepared 
by the medieval homiletics and was perfected by the great French 
preachers, with its strictly systematic construction, with text, 
theme, analytical division, its pronounced organization of the 
various parts of treatment and with a conclusion. This style of 
sermons has its great value and advantage, but also, if one-sidedly 
cultivated, very many dangers of becoming a mere mechanical 
form and routine. With this thematic-thesis sermon, aye, even 
preceding it from primeval times, the exegetic sermon or homily 
was developed. (See above, p. 30 sqq.) Though we have devoted 
very much consideration to it in Book IV., on the sources, espe- 
cially in the treatment of Holy Scripture and of the ecclesias- 
tical year, nevertheless we wish to treat it more systematically as 
a special style of sermons. In fact, all sacred discourses may be 
divided into two great groups: into the thematic- thesis sermon, 
and into the exegetic sermons or homilies. 1 

This division rests both upon formal and material principles. 
But, since our trend of studies led us repeatedly, considered from 

1 Dr. Keppler, Kirchenlexicon I. c. n. "Homiletik," b. 6, p. 217 sqq. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 723 



many views, into the important field of the exegetic sermons, we 
wish here to connect the homily with the concrete species of ser- 
mons, though the homily itself may assume a dogmatic, a moral, 
aye, even an apologetic character. 

1. The essence and the value of the homily. The homily is a 
sermon in an exegetic-practical and popular explanation of Holy 
Scripture. Scriptural pericopes or selections, determined by the 
Church and ordered to be read or used as a prayer in her liturgy, 
or also other passages and paragraphs of Holy Scripture, selected 
freely from Holy Scripture or the liturgy, or, finally, entire books of 
Holy Scripture are explained. He who in the spirit of Holy Church, 
is interested in the use of Holy Scripture for his homiletic activity, 
as the one book created by the Holy Ghost for preachers, and in 
developing Holy Scripture itself as the word of God in the fullest 
sense of the word — in having it operate upon the Catholic people 
as a summary and an entire picture of religion — as a picture of 
religious facts in flesh and blood, in color and in life — as the one 
book on Christ Jesus — as a history of divine providence in things 
great and small; and who will apply and popularize, in all serious- 
ness, Holy Scripture as the great means of enriching our religious 
ideas, and as a collection of marvelous characters and as an inex- 
haustible source of popular eloquence, such a one will deliver hom- 
ilies very frequently. No species of sermons brings Holy Scripture 
so near to the people as the homily does. No species of sermons 
fulfils the desire of the Council of Trent and of the Pontifical, 1 that 
the announcing of the word of God be an annuntiare, an interpretari 
sacras scripturas, as does the homily. He who furthermore has 
made it his full and entire business: to preach Christ Jesus and 
the entire Catholic Church and religion as the ever living and oper- 
ating Christ, and every dogma, every precept, every grace, and 
every institution as a ray emanating from Him, he, too, will deliver 
homilies very often. For in no other species of sermons is the 
person of the Saviour, His being and His activity, brought so closely 
to the hearers as precisely through the homily. — Compare our 
minute, theoretic, and practical explanation on Holy Scripture 
(pp. 94-167) and on the liturgy (pp. 173-516). — He who would pre- 
serve for his preaching activity the freshness, the novelty, and 
vividness, and guard it against the danger of exhaustion, and would 

1 See above, the chapter on Holy Scripture as a source of sacred eloquence, 
pp. 93-167. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



preserve it against a certain stereotyped traditionalism of themes, 
texts, divisions, and examples, which, like solidly molded types in 
a vise of mechanical reproduction, are wont to appear in the liter- 
ature of sermons, must likewise return to the homily. For the 
wealth and the life of Holy Scripture flow into the homily, the 
most manifest opposition to every rock-ribbed stereotypism. The 
value of the homily is therefore inestimable. 

2. The various species of homilies. We distinguish: 

(a) The exegetic homily, which explains a chapter of Holy 
Scripture, passage by passage, word for word, in a popular and 
always practical exegesis, but in a vivid combination of thought, 
and at the end it bears mostly a central idea for practical exhorta- 
tion. (Compare the homilies of St. John Chrysostom.) 

(b) The thematic homily, which takes the main thoughts and 
points of Holy Scripture, of a Gospel, an Epistle, etc., and forms 
them into a proper disposition, which it furnishes and executes 
entirely in the thoughts of the respective scriptural passage. Thus 
the homily assumes partly the character of a dogmatic sermon or 
of a paregoretic address, but remains, above all, an exegesis. Parts 
of formularies of masses, f.i., the Introit, the Epistle, the Gospel, 
may be very often combined into a sort of a thematic homily, 
which thus occupies a middle place between the homily proper and 
a liturgical sermon. (See above, chapter on the ecclesiastical year.) 
The designation of a higher and a lower homily is unhappily chosen. 

3. The methodics of homilies. During the latter part of the 
previous century and down to more recent times the homily was 
very little practised and appreciated in many circles: probably 
because its essence and value were too little known. In recent 
times a strong impetus was given toward its direction. As vic- 
torious defenders or practitioners of the homily, during the last 
and the present century, we may name : Sailer, Hirscher, Foerster, 
Eberhard, P. Jungmann, P. Patiss, Bishop Keppler. In the chap- 
ters on Holy Scripture and the liturgy we have defended very 
strenuously, from all sides, the homiletic manner of preaching in a 
theoretic and practical manner, so that we may here content our- 
selves with a mere systematic consideration of the main points of 
view. 

A. Preparatory exercise for homilies. The homily presupposes 
a certain training of the mind, without which the preacher will 
scarcely ever find, at least not until after many vain attempts, the 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 725 



right key for this most fruitful style of preaching. We have con- 
sidered the various steps for this training very extensively, in the 
chapter on Holy Scripture, and need here merely mention them 
with a few explanations added. 

(a) The cursory reading of the Holy Scriptures. (See p. 147.) 

(b) The gaining of a grand homiletic and pragmatic general 
conception of Holy Scripture. (See pp. 93-146.) 

(c) The study of some special commentaries of Holy Scripture 
for homiletic purposes. (See p. 148, § 2.) 

(d) The study of some pericopes of the ecclesiastical year. 
(See p. 149, § 3-) 

(e) The real homiletic exegesis of the words and sense of the 
Bible, from a spirit of the texts and the contexts, according to the 
dogmatic, moral, and ascetic contents in view of the needs and 
the disposition of the human heart and the times. (See pp. 158- 
162.) 

(/) The gathering of these studies and meditations into an 
edifying and solid popular exegesis. (See p. 163 J.) 

These homiletic preparatory exercises ought especially be 
directly nourished by homiletic instruction and indirectly by 
exegesis. 

B. The formation of the homily itself. We propose the fol- 
lowing method: 

(a) Institute a proper meditation on the pericope, following 
the text passage by passage and weighing the connection of the 
thoughts dogmatically and ascetically, either exclusively in con- 
nection with the biblical text itself, or by means of a meditation 
book, a commentary or a "life of Jesus." 

(b) Later attempt — with pen in hand — a practical exegesis. 
It would be well first to read the respective chapter in an har- 
monized Gospel, in order to gain an idea of the connection, then 
peruse a commentary with short notes, or a "life of Jesus," or an 
exegetically solid book of meditation on the paragraphs of the 
text selected for the homily. Now begin the real written homily. 
Lesser adepts do not at once write the homily, but merely a sort 
of sketched exegesis, passage by passage, or, according to the 
particular sort of pericope, following the text in its thoughts para- 
graph by paragraph. In the beginning the homilist should here- 
with put the question, not timidly, but very definitely: What could 
be the main thought of the chapter in the mind of the biblical writer 



726 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and of the Church which proposes the pericope? But it is not 
necessary that these thoughts percolate from all sides into a full 
clearness. The elaboration itself, the digging and excavation of 
the riches of the text, will of itself constantly increase the clear- 
ness of the main thought. The more we have penetrated the 
spirit of the ecclesiastical year the lighter will the labor become. 
Thus the homilist should note, for single passages possibly not 
distantly connected, yet proceeding from a literal sense, the sensus 
mysticus and accommodatus cum fundament o in re, the dogmatic, 
moral, and ascetic thoughts and view-points, according to the cir- 
cumstances, the person and the life of Jesus, and note short appli- 
cations and illustrations of all the circumstances of life by certain 
texts, etc. He should frequently ask himself: What is contained 
in this dogmatic idea of the Bible? In that sententious word of 
Christ? Where have I met, elsewhere, the discovered biblical idea 
of Holy Scripture, or in what connection with some scholastic 
term of theology or in some manner of language of the catechism? 
How might I now illustrate the scholastic idea or the sentence of 
the catechism by the word of Holy Scripture? (Compare, f.i., 
"grace" and the biblical word "life," p. 90; contrition for venial 
sins and the biblical saying: "washing of the feet," p. 363 sqq.) 
Am not I and are not my people in the same condition as the men 
of the Gospel of today, literally or spiritually? What would Jesus 
say to us, how treat us now by His Gospel? How does His precious 
word or deed strike our own times? Above all, however, should 
he permit the entire work to be dominated by the question: How 
can I bring closely home to my people, in a practical manner and 
according to their needs, that which has just been read? How 
bring the Saviour Himself to them through the Gospel of this 
day in a divine and human manner, so that He may speak that 
which He says today, in the midst of the people and to the inmost 
souls of the hearers? Thus should the homilist proceed in his 
written exegesis, but never deviate too far from the thought of 
the text; he should explain much very rapidly and briefly (see 
above, p. 231, Excursus II), in order to be able to dwell longer upon 
the main event, the substantial thought or the central point (see 
p. 232), and exhaust its whole contents. He should ask himself, 
finally: Does not the exegesis, which was concluded under a con- 
stantly consulted commentary or with the notes of a better edition 
of the Bible or of a Life of Jesus, urge a most special central appli- 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 727 



cation, or are there two or three practical substantial thoughts which 
control the whole in a thematic manner? If the exegesis is com- 
pleted in this manner, partly by way of sketches, partly more 
extensively, f.i., on flying leaves, then the homilist ought proceed 
to the final elaboration of the homily. For this we propose the 
following process: 

(c) First ascertain whether the pericope be more suitable for 
an exegesis, passage by passage (always under a certain unity of 
thought and a definitely fixed purpose) (an exegetic homily), or, 
better, for a thematic division, the points of which, however, are 
entirely to be filled with the thoughts of the pericope (a thematic 
homily). According to the answer of this question the elaboration 
for the one or other method should be begun. 

(d) Next, the idea of the aim should be sharply determined. 
Often the lively conceived and perceived intention is sufficient to 
explain to the people the scriptural paragraph in a true, clear, and 
warm manner, or to bring Christ Jesus nearer to the hearers, so 
that they may learn to know the Saviour better. To this is added 
an entire concrete, practical, pastoral thought which, in a latent 
manner, animates everything, and at the end of the chain of thoughts 
flares up like a brilliant light, victoriously and overwhelmingly, 
with all its practical consequences. (Compare the homilies of St. 
John Chry sos torn.) 

Now the last written elaboration really begins : 

(a) by eliminating first that which is superfluous, foreign or 
possibly artificial in the exegesis, that which dwells too long on 
side-issues of the composed sketch. Thus a refreshing and rapid 
stride of the homily is prepared. It will then dwell, in the appli- 
cations, which do not belong to the central ones, only on one or 
two marked sentences. It will, in fact, not overburden the hearers 
with applications. Much that is valuable in itself, but considered 
on the whole only accidental, it touches in a mild manner, but 
spares the precious time for the main purpose and for the sub- 
stantial thought — without breaking off the thread of a strict 
combination ; 

(/3) in the written elaboration that should be gathered, espe- 
cially that which relates to the person of Christ, in lively, fresh, and 
concrete lines, and should be presented as an exegesis of those 
passages of the scriptural thoughts which, above all others, draw 
full attention to Christ Himself; 



728 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(y) in this exposition special attention should be paid to the 
important dogmatic, moral, ascetic, and exegetic parts. Still, the 
homilist should often determine to dispense, at this time, with 
several expositions, in favor of homilies of later years. The reserved 
exegetic sketches will then form a thesaurus ex quo paterfamilias 
profert nova et vetera. 

(8) The homilist should next endeavor to form the entire 
exegesis into one united and whole picture. 

(e) Finally, he should select for a connection of the several 
points of the thematic homily, or for the peroration of the exegetic 
homily, some transcendent thought as a fruitful and striking central 
application. 

We will add an example of sketching an exegetic homily, but will 
confine ourselves intentionally therein to the oft neglected literal sense. 
Besides, in the homiletic treatment of Holy Scripture and of the liturgy 
we have made a great selection of purely exegetic and also especially 
exegetic-thematic suggestions for homilies. 

Exegetic sketches of homilies on the Gospel of the calming of the 
storm at sea. (IV Sunday after Epiph. Text: Matt., c. 8.) 

The homilist should read the harmonized Gospels of Matt. 8: 18, 
23-27; Mark 4: 35-40; Luke 8: 22-25; f.i., in Lohmann-Cathrein : 
Vita D. N. J. Ch., and herewith the commentary on the storm at sea 
by Grimm and Meschler, or in the commentaries of Polzl or Schanz. 

Introduction. No other introduction ought to be necessary for a 
Sunday homily than a kind pastoral introduction: What we have just 
read, what you have just heard with your own ears — that we shall 
meditate on today with a holy attention. Every word, every deed of 
Christ is more than gold and precious jewels. Let us follow the Gospel 
word by word. If the homily is part of a cycle of sermons on Christ, in 
case it be delivered after Epiphany and not, as is often the case, only 
after Pentecost, f.i. ; Christ Jesus, the King of nations, the King of youth, 
the King of marriage, the King of nature, etc., then the introduction 
will follow from the cycle. (Compare hereon pp. 235 sqq., 237 sqq., I 
and II, 238 sqq., III.) 

Homily. Ascendente Jesu in naviculam: It was late in the evening. 
Another day of the richest Messianic labor was about to pass away. 
Countless people had flocked to Christ from all parts and they still 
followed Him at this late hour. But now the Saviour wishes to rest, 
to spend a quiet hour for Himself and His Apostles. He is about to 
enter the boat. "Let us pass over to the other side," He says to His 
Apostles. We here witness a lovely picture of the obedience of the 
disciples. The Apostles leave everything, they interrupt their activity 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 729 



or their rest: "And they take Him even as He was in the ship, and 
departed." Here, in passing, a serious question addresses itself to our 
conscience: Are we also so prompt in obeying, whenever a command of 
the Lord is addressed to us, either through the Ten Commandments or 
through an urgent call of duty? whenever religion requires a sacrifice? 
or the love of neighbor? Whenever in our inmost soul we feel a desire 
coming from Him, or some incitement to perform some good deed? 
(The homilist should quickly popularize such an application in slowly 
and emphatically expressed words like some unexpected momentary 
examination of conscience, and then proceed at once with the homiletic 
exegesis.) But let us follow the Apostolic bark. The evening is quiet 
and calm. Seriously and majestically the mountain peaks of Hittim 
look down upon the blue deep. The last solar beams of the day are 
passing away, and the parting rays of the sun are playing over the tide. 
All is quiet. 1 Only the splashing of the oars interrupts the solemn silence, 
whilst the fishermen's bark is gliding noiselessly over the surface of the 
deep. What a grand picture! The boards of the bark carry the Saviour 
of the world over the abyss of the waters, they carry His kingdom, the 
school of His Apostles! (taken from parallel reports). And whilst they 
thus row (Luke 8: 24), Jesus is asleep. They had placed a pillow for 
Him in the hinder part of the bark (Matt: 4, 38). There He rests. All 
around there is a solemn calm in nature, and the Lord of nature — in 
the form of a man — is asleep. What a revelation by this picture! 
Jesus is fatigued! Tired, He sleeps in the bark. He is therefore man, 
a perfect man as are we. His humanity also — for such is the will of God 
— should be oppressed by the burden of labor, by the cross, and by 
care. And why is He fatigued? "Oportet me evangelizare: quia ideo 
missus sum. I must preach the Gospel, for this I am sent." Therefore 
He moves restlessly from place to place. "I am come to bring fire upon 
this earth, and what do I desire but that it burn! " And thus He passes 
restlessly through the world, to be everywhere the light of the world, 
not to extinguish any flickering wick, but rather to fan it on, that it too 
may burn. He passes by, distributing benefits everywhere, and this 
made Him tired. After having preached to the masses all day and 
having healed countless numbers, He now sleeps, quietly and peacefully. 
Oh happy sea, what a grand burden you carry! Thus the bark glides 
silently over the surface of the sea, in order to reach before the break 
of day the eastern goal. The Messianic school is at rest. And who 
would dare disturb the Master, when He, the restless one, sleeps? And 

1 Such brief natural descriptions should not be mere ornaments of speech. They 
constitute here simply a closer explanation of the remarks of the parallel passages 
of Mark 4: 35, cum sero esset factum and intend to bring the event more closely 
before the people. They should always be merely means to the end. 



730 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



the school rests with Him, in a quiet and sacred contemplation. But 
let us listen to the Gospel. 

Et ecce motus magnus f actus est in mart, ita ut navicula operiretur 
fluctibus: ipse veto dormiebat, etc. Suddenly — thus the Gospel interrupts 
the lovely picture — a storm arises, aye, a mighty powerful hurricane. 
(The homilist should here introduce a few remarks on the sudden storms 
which to this day arise and are feared in the sea of Genesareth, according 
to Grimm, Meschler, Knecht, and other traveling reports.) What a 
contrast ! What a frightful upheaval of the sea ! The disciples engage 
all their forces. But the waves roll over the bark (Mark 4: 37). It is 
filled with water (Mark 4: 37; Matt. 8: 24). They are in danger (Luke 
8 : 23). An upheaval of the sea, but also an upheaval of emotions arises. 
The Apostles are fearing for the worst. Like a nutshell is the bark 
tossed about: the directing force of the experienced sailors gives way. 
The waves of perplexity, of discouragement, and imperfection over- 
whelm the Apostolic faith: they also encounter spiritual danger. A 
long series of divine miracles and grand deeds they have already wit- 
nessed in Jesus. But now everything is buried, as it were, under the 
waves. Their lives and the life of their Master likewise are in danger, 
so they think, and therewith the kingdom of the Messiah and their 
whole future. They express this fear later, most simply, by crying out: 
We perish! And Jesus sleeps on quietly, though His omniscience and 
His omnipotence are awake and see and direct all things. But the sea 
becomes constantly more stormy — distress constantly greater. The 
bark, over which mountains of waters are breaking, is filling with water. 
"Master, we perish, does it not concern Thee?" With this cry of 
distress they timidly awaken Jesus, when divinity could never be sub- 
merged in the little low-lying waters of Genesareth. 

Et dicit eis Jesus: Quid timidi estis, etc. And Jesus arose, and the 
hurricane was most furious. He was the only one calm amidst the 
storm of the sea and of the hearts. A double commotion surrounded 
Him. As teacher, He turns first to the storm of hearts, which interests 
Him more than the commotion of the waters of the sea. He speaks. 
"Why are ye fearful, ye of little faith? Where is your faith? Have you 
no faith?" 1 Like lightning of love and of severity at the same time, 
the word of Jesus illumines the night of storm. It had now become deep 
night indeed. They had set out late in the evening. You see, beloved 
brethren, here more clearly than elsewhere what interests the Saviour 
most — faith. It may storm and rage, and ruin may threaten from all 
sides: He first asks about their faith. The reckless saying is often heard: 
Faith matters little. Christ is of an entirely different opinion. Only 
after having been solicitous about the faith of the Apostles does He 
1 Compare the parallel passages. 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 731 



turn in immeasurable majesty toward the storm of the sea: "He rebuked 
the wind and said to the sea: Peace, be still!" Et facta est tranquillitas 
magna — thus speaks one of the Evangelists. (Mark 4: 39.) A mere 
word, and a great calm ensued. The storm suddenly ceased, the air 
and nature became quiet. At other times the surging sea required hours 
and days before it became smoothened. Now there lies suddenly, 
where but a moment ago the hurricane raged, the quiet sea, smooth as a 
mirror, before the astounded Apostles. A moment ago, fully conscious 
of human impotence, they were a prey to the blindly raging forces of 
nature; now upon the word of Jesus, the suddenly tamed sea carries 
them in the peaceful bark over the mirror-like smoothe d surface. But with- 
in them there was also a great calm. After the miracle Jesus probably was 
silent and left them to the impression and the motion of grace. But the 
deeds of Jesus spoke aloud, mightily, and forcibly to them. (The homi- 
list should hasten to the concluding text and to the central application.) 
Let us listen to the Gospel: 

Porro homines mirati sunt dicentes: Qualis est hie, quia venti et mare 
obediunt ei? The Saviour left them to their thoughts and emotions. 
They rowed toward the eastern shore at the dawning of the morning. 
And during the calm of this morning sail, the conscience of the 
Apostles awakened. From the depth of the blushing littleness of 
their faith they look up — to the majesty of Jesus. They whisper 
to each other: Who is this that both wind and sea obey Him? Pos- 
sibly the one or the other remembered the words of the psalms which 
so often praise God as the Lord of the seas : God of hosts, who is like unto 
Thee? Thou art all-powerful, oh Lord. . . . They have seen the works 
of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. He said the word and there 
arose a storm of wind; and the waves thereof were lifted up. They 
mount to the heavens, and they go down to the depths : their soul pined 
away with evils. They were troubled, and reeled like a drunken man: 
and all their wisdom was swallowed up. And they cried to the Lord in 
their affliction: and He brought them out of their distresses. And He 
turned the storm into a breeze: and its waves were still. And they 
rejoiced because they were still: and He brought them to the haven 
which they wished for." (Psalm 106 : 25-30.) In these series of thoughts 
the Apostles probably were engaged. Thus they thought of God, the 
Lord of the sea and of the storms. But now they had witnessed it with 
their own eyes, how Jesus of Nazareth, Who a few moments ago slept 
as the son of man in the bark, with one word, controlled the monstrous 
power of the sea and changes the storm suddenly into a great calm. Who 
is this, therefore? The clear, noble, unsophisticated reason was obliged to 
acknowledge: Here is more than mere human power; more than mere 
man. And grace sent to the interrogating and seeking human reason 



732 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



its rays in order that the Apostles might perceive still greater and divine 
things in Jesus, which flesh and blood could not reveal to them. Who 
is this? Is He not God Himself, the Son of God? From all sides there 
awaken now the grandest reminiscences in the souls of the Apostles, of 
things they had witnessed with and in Jesus of Nazareth. In Cana 
He had changed water into wine before their own eyes, and they were 
forced to acknowledge : He is the Lord and the King of nature. Astounded 
they stood in the temple of Jerusalem, when He drove, with a mysterious 
power, the buyers and vendors from the temple: overturned Mammon 
creaked under His feet, and no one dared to oppose the sacred power 
which was there manifested: He is the Lord of the Temple. In Caphar- 
naum they witnessed the exorcism of an evil spirit who, screaming in a 
loud voice, made his exit from one possessed. Who is this? Is He not, 
so to speak, the Master of hell? And on the same day, after the sun had 
set and all Capharnaum was gathered before the threshold of the house 
of Simon in which Jesus sojourned, they experienced, until deep into 
the night, a whole series of miracles. When long ago the light of day had 
been extinguished, the sun of omnipotence and of love still worked on. 
Who is He? they well might ask. Is He not the Messiah, Who has taken 
our weaknesses upon Himself and has borne our infirmities? And once 
before, on this very sea where they had just witnessed this grandiose 
act, the same Jesus, after they had labored all the night in vain, sent an 
immense booty of fishes into their nets. Then fear overwhelmed Peter 
and all that were with him, and when the quiet bark stood lonely upon 
the crest of the sea of Genesareth, Peter, like one crushed by the great 
draught of fishes, broke down and cried out: "Lord, depart from me, I 
am a sinful man." And now the impression of then and now coalesced 
into one great picture: Jesus is the Lord of the sea, of the depths and of 
the storm. And a comparatively short time ago they witnessed Jesus 
saying to one possessed: "I will, be thou made clean," and he was made 
clean; how He suddenly restored the health of one who, for thirty-eight 
years, had suffered, and then engaged about this cure in a victorious 
dispute with the pharisees. He is the Lord over sickness and distress. 
They had also then experienced how He had revealed Himself, in a 
dispute with the pharisees, as a reader of hearts, and had proclaimed 
Himself against the narrowmindedness of the pharisee, the Lord even 
of the Sabbath. They had listened one day to His sermon on the Mount, 
and conviction forced them to acknowledge Him the Lord of language 
and of minds as no other ever was, that He spoke as one who had power. 
And when shortly thereafter the Captain of Capharnaum paid Him 
homage as the commander of heaven and of earth, and the humble Jesus 
accepted the homage and loudly praised the faith of the Roman soldier, 
then their faith also shot forth new green branches. Shortly after this 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 733 



they witnessed the grandest thing that could possibly happen. An 
unpretentious crowd followed the mysterious Master over the land. 
There, before the gates of Nairn, they met a funeral procession. And 
Jesus steps before the bier, and with an almighty word He robs death 
of its prey, and restores to the sorrowing widow her only son, now alive 
again. Who is He? The Lord of death. Surprise, consternation, fear 
and astonishment, joy and jubilation went forth from Nairn through 
the whole of Israel, as just so many messengers of Jesus and of faith. 
But they rapped most loudly at the souls of the Apostles. Aye, brethren, 
enter you into the disposition of the Apostles as though you personally 
had witnessed all this. The most frightful and the most powerful on 
earth, against which man is absolutely impotent, the raging storm at 
sea and the all-conquering death, Jesus conquers by His own power. 
Who is this? From all sides the Apostles receive the answer: The Lord 
of nature, the Lord of the temple, the Lord of the minds of men, the Lord 
of sickness and of misery, the King of the sea and of hearts, the Lord and 
Master of hell, the Lord of death, the Lord of the convulsions of the 
elements and of emotions. All this may have loomed up during the 
quiet hours of night and of morning before the souls of the Apostles. 
They had just experienced the frightful storm — at one word of Jesus, 
there is a sudden calm. Brethren, what is all this? What does this 
day's Gospel show us? Jesus' school of faith. Thus Jesus instructed 
His own in faith, in the unshakable faith in His divinity. 

The bark in the meantime winds its course toward the eastern shore, 
and the first morning light salutes from the heavens. But in the souls 
of the Apostles another rising of the sun took place, the rising of the sun 
of faith in Thee, oh Christ Jesus, Son of man and Son of God! But 
their school was far from being closed. On the shore beyond they were 
still to witness a new grand deed of the Lord: And thus it continued 
until the day that Peter, forced by the grace of God, acknowledged 
loudly and cheerfully: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
Then the Saviour said to him: Not flesh and blood hath revealed this 
to thee, but my Father Who is in heaven. He would say: all that hath 
been witnessed and the whole school would be in vain, without the 
powerful grace of God. But we will interrupt our meditation here, and 
in conclusion return to ourselves for a few moments. 

Brethren, what is the Gospel for us? What demand does it make 
upon us? For you also it is a school of faith. You believe in Christ 
Jesus. You say to Him: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
God, God Himself, the second person of the adorable Trinity. 

But the Gospel of this day would strengthen your faith, make it as 
firm as a rock, courageous and joyful. 

Behold, oh Catholics! all that the Apostles have experienced you 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



also have. Plain, faithful eye-witnesses, men full of the Holy Ghost, 
have proclaimed it to all the world, recorded in the Gospels what Jesus 
hath done. Thousands have given their blood in testimony thereof. 
No storm, no criticism was able to sweep away or destroy the sermons of 
the Apostles and of their successors — the Holy Gospels. As firm as a 
rock is the truth : Christ is the Son of God. 

Catholic people! Which is the most important religious truth? 
Precisely this: Jesus is the Son of God — God Himself. Of His own 
power, as you have seen today, He is the Lord of nature, the Lord of 
the temple, the Lord over sickness and misery, the Lord over hell and 
over death, the Lord of the storms of the sea and of hearts. And this 
same Lord, Who today silenced the storm of the sea, succumbed on 
Good Friday apparently under the storm of persecution. But on 
Easter morning He silenced the storm which hell and His enemies had 
provoked against Him. As the Risen One He ascended alive, glorified 
through the stone of the grave: I am the Lord, I am the conqueror! 
Alleluia ! 

Brethren, this is the answer to the question of the disciples in the 
Gospel of this day: Who is this, Who commands even the winds and the 
sea and they obey Him? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
This we cry out with our whole soul. This is the first, the deepest 
thought of our holy religion. 

There are likewise storms, and very vehement storms, in our lives. 
Today I am thinking, above all, of the battle against faith. Who can 
save us in this conflict? Christ the Son of the Hving God. 

Wherever your holy Catholic faith may be attacked, minimized, 
made odious, warred or stormed against, there remember Jesus. The 
same Jesus who stilled the storm of the sea in today's Gospel, whose 
words the sea and its waves obey, this Jesus, Who is the Lord of the sea 
and of hearts, of death and of hell, this same Jesus says to us: " Have ye 
faith?" " He who believes not is already condemned." He is the Son 
of God. He has established our holy religion. He is the supreme 
expert in religion: hear ye Him. He is also powerful enough to com- 
mand silence to the attacks against faith, and " there shall be a great 
calm." But, if the very storms obey Him, is it not an unutterable 
shame that men will not believe in Him? will not obey Him? 

The same Jesus Whom the storms and the sea obey, hath said to 
the Apostles gathered around Peter and to their successors: "I am the 
truth : I shall abide with you all days even to the very consummation of 
the world." "I shall send you the Spirit of truth, and He will teach you 
all things and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I have said to 
you." And to Peter, the first Pope, He said: "Feed My lambs, feed 
My sheep, i.e., guide and govern the ordinary faithful: guide and govern 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 735 



also the sheep who precede them: the Apostles, the*bishops, the priests, 
the shepherds of the Church. Back of the bishops and the Pope stands 
Christ, before Whom the storm, death, and even hell flee. Our faith 
is, therefore, no mere human work, our Church not the work of men. 
We know, therefore, where Christ is: There where the Church is, there 
is Jesus, the Son of God; there is His ship. Is it not, therefore, an 
honor to hear the Church? Is it not a duty to keep her commandments? 
Every doctrine of the Church, every precept of the Catholic religion is a 
ray, a word from Christ. For Jesus' sake you are a Catholic. For 
Jesus' sake you maintain the doctrines of faith. For the sake of Jesus, 
Who in this day's Gospel tamed by His all-powerful word the convulsions 
of the sea, you keep the Sunday holy, and the days of your confession 
and communions. And if you are not in Catholic company, or amongst 
men who battle against religion, look up solely to Jesus. Call on Him 
and say: Thou alone canst save me! Without Thee I perish! Then, 
fulfil your Catholic duty. Jesus, the Son of God, Whom today we have 
learned to know better, hath imposed it upon us. This is one of the 
most important principles of our holy religion. For Jesus' sake I believe, 
I lead a Christian life, I draw grace from the sacraments. Never, under 
any circumstances of my life, will I ever permit myself, through any 
storm of persecution or of mockery, to be separated from the Catholic 
Church, from her precepts and graces, because I will not be ever sepa- 
rated from Christ Jesus. Jesus is stronger, greater than all human 
power, more powerful than all nature, mightier than death and hell. 
Let us conclude our Sunday's meditation with this one thought: We 
have cheerfully believed and acknowledged once more that Jesus is the 
Son of God. And no power on earth, no storm from without or within, 
will ever separate us from Jesus and from the Church founded by Him. 
Amen. 

Here we have already organically combined exegesis and application, 
yet in such a manner that several parallel thoughts were merely pre- 
sented as a selection. It remains now only to eliminate whatever might 
be omitted or postponed in regard to time and circumstances. 

Corollary I. The homily might otherwise be presented in a the- 
matic manner, f.i., I. Jesus fatigued. II. Jesus all-powerful, or: I. 
Jesus, the Son of man. II. Jesus the Son of God. Or (according to 
Meschler) : I. The crossing. II. The storm and its silencing. III. 
Consequences of the silencing. Or: I. In the storm. II. After the 
storm. 

Finally, the symbolical and typical significance of the storm of the 
Church or the storms of the life of the individual present a rich field for 
central applications. The following might, f.i., be thematic sketches 
from this point of view: I. The literal sense. II. The spiritual sense 



736 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



of today's Gospel. Or: I. The apostolic bark in the storm. II. The 
ecclesiastical ship in the storm. Or: I. The disciples in the storm on 
the sea of Genesareth. II. We in the storm of this life. (See above, 
P- 235.) 

The liturgical sermons as practical explanations of the liturgical service, 
formularies, and ceremonies are, in a certain sense, exegetic sermons. Often 
they form themselves into real homilies, and oftentimes also into dog- 
matic-ascetic sermons. We refer here to our extensive explanations on 
pp. 55-65: The liturgy and the selection of a subject; and also to all 
paragraphs on the ecclesiastical year, from pp. 165-570. There the 
scriptural homily was very extensively considered, and also the very close 
connection between the scriptural and the liturgical homily. 

CHAPTER II 

§ 1. DISTINCTIONS ARISING FROM THE OCCASIONS 
OF SERMONS 

These distinctions are connected partly with the former dis- 
tinctions, and partly they group sermons in a very peculiar manner. 
It is evident that the actual occasion is closely connected with, 
or at least strongly influences the subject of the sermon. Never- 
theless, we must not deny a justification for a division according 
to the measure of the manifold motives and occasions of sermons, 
especially so if such distinctions do not control the entire homi- 
letics, but intend to comprise only certain practical rules and 
methods under well-ordered points of view. After having con- 
sidered, in the homiletic development of Holy Scripture and of 
the ecclesiastical year and of the principal themes, the same field 
of thoughts from all sides and in their inner connection theoret- 
ically and practically, we shall add several supplements which 
consider specifically the singularity of the occasions of sermons. 
In regard to the motives and occasions we may distinguish: 

1. Sunday sermons. 

2. Sermons for the solemn feasts of the Lord. 

3. Sermons for the other feasts of the Lord. 

4. Sermons for the occasions of various times and devotions. 

5. Sermons on the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

6. Sermons on the saints. 

7. Occasional sermons in a more limited sense. 

Of the groups from 1-6 we have treated rather extensively, in 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 737 



a theoretic and practical manner, in the development of the ecclesi- 
astical year. There remain some more extensive supplements for 
the groups 6 and 7. 

§ 2. Sermons for the Feasts of Saints 

I. Sermons on the Blessed Virgin. The sermons on the Blessed 
Virgin excel in significance and fruitfulness, but also in difficulty 
all other sermons on the saints. We refer, in regard to this most 
important and fruitful form of sermons, to our exposition of ser- 
mons on the Blessed Virgin in the treatise on the principal themes 
of sermons, p. 673. 

II. Sermons on saints in general. The sermons on saints, on 
the feasts of saints, are either : 

(a) Panegyrics in the more limited sense. Their theme is the 
heroic greatness of the saints in general and in particular. Their 
human and Christian life, with all its directions, changes, and 
progress, with its conflicts and wrestling after perfection is mir- 
rored in such addresses in a grand climax. The preacher must 
understand how to depict the heroic degree of their virtue and 
activity in a mighty and a touching manner, and to form it, as it 
were, into an exalted hymn: a The Lord is admirable in His saints." 
(Ps. 67: 36.) And yet, the panegyrist must know how to present 
to the people the human side of the saints, not only their extraor- 
dinary deeds, but he must also make their ordinary virtues, their 
quiet fulfilment of duty, their fidelity in small things the subject 
of his praise. 

Thus will the homilist attain a double service : He will show the 
greatness of God and the supernatural character of the Church 
through the saints, and, besides, he will point all classes and con- 
ditions to ideals, who walk before them like illuminating and guid- 
ing stars on the way to the imitation of Christ: "If such and such 
could do this, why not we? " (Augustin.) 

Deep and, at the same time, practical thoughts on this con- 
ception of the lives of the saints, especially also on the union of 
the saints with Christ, Who continues to live and to operate in 
them, are found in Weiss, Apologie, V. B., also in Meschler, Life 
of Jesus, n. vol., "The saints of the Church and Christ" — and 
"Pentecostal gift," chaps. 23 and 24, "The saints" — "Perfection." 
("Compare also, Hettinger, Aphorismen, XXI. "Besondere Arten 
der geistlichen Rede.") 



738 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Panegyrics, in the limited sense, are better adapted to attain 
mighty combined effects. This is the so-called Italian method of 
sermons on the feasts of the saints. It may operate fruitfully and 
exaltingly, but it is more difficult and easily degenerates into mere 
pathetic declamation. For a less gifted speaker this method is 
full of dangers. Moreover, this method is generally less adapted 
to our (German) manner of speech. The sermon on the feasts of 
saints may also be: 

(b) Moral and model sermons. They emphasize a principal 
virtue, or several virtues of the saints under a common point of 
view. Example: Bourdaloue, on Meekness, a characteristic feature 
in the life of St. Francis de Sales. I. St. Francis de Sales conquered 
heresy through his meekness. II. Through the unction of his 
meekness he restored the fear of God within the Church. — The 
preacher can treat, to a great advantage, the characteristic virtue 
of a saint, if he guard himself herein as much against far-fetched 
moralization as against the mere relating of the mode of presen- 
tation exhibited by chronicle writers. It may at times be very 
happily and fruitfully shown how some one principle or other, car- 
ried out in a real and constant manner in life, has really made the 
saints what they are. Every principle of the Gospel is capable of 
making a saint. (The power of a great thought.) In many themes 
the Saviour is first shown to great advantage, His principles or a 
sketch of His life (first part), then the saint, who carried out in 
himself this principle or followed the example of Christ (second 
part. Compare above: Moral sermon). This second method is 
called after their models and promoters — the French method. 
Both methods may often be happily combined. 

If little is known of the life of a saint, then the homilist should 
gather the little under a striking typical thought and subject, or 
he should select a theme from the general character of the respective 
saint (Apostle, martyr, confessor). Not infrequently does a feast- 
day afford an opportunity to present the significance of some virtue 
in a substantial and practical manner (faith, self-denial, the love 
of the cross, simplicity, fidelity to vocation, etc.). At other times 
the preacher might select, with abundant beneficial results, any 
dogmatic thought for which the saint battled, or which controlled 
his whole life or activity. On some other occasion he might select 
as subject the essence and substance of any ecclesiastical institu- 
tion, for which the saint was active, f.i., in connection with the 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 739 



feast of the founder of some great order or of some religious saint: 
What significance have orders for the religious and for the secular 
people? After the preacher has spoken, in answer to the first 
question, on the Christian perfection of all classes and then on the 
state of perfection in the spirit of the evangelical counsels, and 
has thus developed the significance of monasteries for the religious 

— qui potest capere capiat — he might treat the second question, 
possibly under the view-point: Monasteries instruct the world, 
they benefit the world. The doctrines which monasteries teach 
the world are: There is an eternity — a kingdom of God: "What 
will it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his immortal 
soul." Without Christ you can accomplish nothing for eternity 

— The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence (this thought con- 
cerns you also), etc. Monasteries do not proclaim to all: Go, 
leave all thou hast, — but they preach to all: "there is an eternity: 
intrate per angustam portam, quia lata est porta, et spatiosa via est, 
quae ducit ad perditionem, et multi sunt, qui intrant per earn: et 
pauci sunt, qui invenerint earn. 11 (Matt. 7: 13, 14.) The use of 
monasteries for the people of the world: Their prayer benefits the 
world. Again, their good works benefit the world. Often they 
are the homes of great saints, the birthplace of great thoughts, 
where thousands have found their rest and happiness. From many 
monasteries religion, culture, morality, art, and science went forth 
into the wide world. 

Though in the history of the one or other monastery there were 
times of decay, though human weaknesses, faults, and sins were 
able to creep into monasteries — the sacred, the grand, the graces, 
the blessings, the examples which went and go forth from monas- 
teries, far outweigh all else. In such a train of thoughts the char- 
acter of the celebrated religious saint should be painted, or the 
history of the order established by him. The spirit of Christ 
within it should be shown, the fulfilment of certain thoughts and 
principles of Christ, etc. Often the confraternity, of which the 
saint is patron, or the special relations of the saint with the parish, 
with the various classes and conditions of the population, give the 
preacher suitable thoughts. Often there exist unique relations 
between the lives of the saints and definite principles of faith or 
sacraments of the Church. (Martyrdom and the Holy Eucharist, 
cf. Laachenstimmen, 1894.) 

Great wealth of most fruitful thoughts is contained in the mis- 



740 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



sal and the breviary, in the entire office of the proprium and of the 
commune sanctorum. The lessons, however, of the second nocturn 
require critical examination. The preacher ought study, meditate 
on, and compare, f.i., in the missal and office of the breviary, sev- 
eral feasts of the saints. The richness of thoughts, of points of 
view, of emotions, and applications which offer themselves will be 
really astounding. We refer especially to the feasts of St. Agnes, 
St. Joseph, St. Monica, St. Philipp Neri, Aloysius, John the Bap- 
tist, Peter and Paul, Camillus de Lellis, Jerome Aemilianus, Vin- 
cent de Paul, Laurence, Francis of Assisi, Stanislaus Kostka, etc. 

Good descriptions of saints and entire collections of the lives of 
saints render herein much service. (Compare the smaller works 
of the Bollandists, Butler's Lives of the Saints, the "Legenden" 
of Alban Stolz, P. Otto Bitschnau, P. Theodosius Florentini, etc.; 
compare also striking articles in encyclopedias on celebrated saints. 
Splendid material is likewise furnished by greater and more exten- 
sive ecclesiastical histories.) 

Among the more recent sermon books the following, especially, 
contain prominent panegyrics of saints: Bishop Sailer on Poly- 
carp, Augustin, Norbert; especially Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Mac- 
carthy, Segneri, Wurz (very rich), Tschupik, Schneller, Tribbles, 
Gretsch, Foerster, Colmar, and many others. 

§ 3. Occasional Sermons 

Occasional sermons are developed in extremely manifold ways. 
For them there are not only many purely religious occasions, like 
the administration of the sacraments, ecclesiastical blessings, 
burials, first mass celebrations, but also occasionally others, in 
themselves merely profane occasions which, however, are easily 
transformed into some religious celebration, and should be cele- 
brated (f.i., the blessing of banners, of public buildings, of ships, 
railroads, patriotic celebrations and popular feasts, feasts of socie- 
ties, etc.). Good occasional sermons may become very fruitful. 

1. In all the events which give an incentive to an occasional 
sermon seek a truth worthy the Apostolic word and interesting 
to the hearers, a homiletic side and unfold it. But these higher 
ideas must be occasioned by the object itself, and not produced in 
an unnatural and artificial manner. 

2. This precaution is especially binding in regard to the union 
between the more sublime and supernatural in subjects which are 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 741 



entirely and principally rooted in profane life, f.i., at the opening 
of railroads, of patriotic rifle matches, etc. 1 

3. The occasional sermon demands, above all, oratorical tact 
in regard to the spirit, the tone, the character, and circumstances. 
It is a real touchstone of oratorical talent. 

A real source of casual sermons, that ought to be considered, is 
the Rituale Romanum with its many blessings and consecrations, 
even of profane objects and occasions. The striking formularies 
often combine, in a surprising and unctious manner, sensible and 
intellectual, natural and supernatural, profane and religious points 
of importance. (Compare, with all this, formerly developed trains 
of thoughts, f.i., pp. 74, 75; pp. 103-105; pp. 545-554; PP. 628-629.) 

We will here insert an example which grew out of a unique occa- 
sion, and which may be well adapted to illustrate our conception 
of the occasional sermon from one view-point or other. 

Address delivered at the Catholic service, on the occasion of the fete of the 
confederated Helvetian rifle match in Lucern, igoi? 

Beloved Confederates: 

The lovely, and to you most dear, word " confederates," which I 
have just uttered within these holy walls, points mainly upwards. 
Oaths unite us to God, call on God as a witness and as the protector of 
truth and fidelity. Through an oath man soars above himself and his 
equals. Aye, the oath hastens outward, from earthly ranges up to 
God Himself. Our name of honor, therefore, cries aloud over valley 
and Alps; God is, in a higher sense, the first almighty confederate 3 in 
the land of the Swiss, He Who binds us by oath. And, if " God is with 
us, who can be against us?" 

The confederates are noble men, men of honor, of one heart and one 
soul, who, sprung from the divine and native root, grew up in the solar 
rays of the divine protection of might. 

Therefore, dearly beloved Helvetian marksmen, whilst your patri- 
otic work and feast is holding its breath for a moment in the presence of 
the Almighty, listen to a few words on this divine and human confedera- 
tion. 

When in the dim dark of primeval times, after the first almighty 
deed of creation, amidst the breezes of the springtime of the world, and 

1 In Switzerland a common occurrence. (Note of translator.) 

2 Delivered by Prof. Meyenberg, in the church of the Franciscans, Sunday, July 7, 
1901. 

3 We use this word, in a wide sense, of the divine active relation to him who takes 
the oath. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



amidst frightful catastrophes, when the universe built itself up, when 
the primeval mountains arose out of chaos and the gigantic dome of 
Switzerland towered on high, whilst the morning stars chanted the song 
of jubilation to their creator, and the first solar rays kissed this land as 
God's gem, then, as Holy Scripture says, the Spirit of God hovered over 
the waters, creating and forming. And He saw that it was good, and 
very good, and He blessed our land. This is the first covenant of the 
Almighty with our country, when no human heart beat in its valleys. 
And ever since then the thunders of the avalanche, the red glow on our 
snow-clad mountains, the divine ramparts of our hills, and the fruitful 
pastures of our valleys cry aloud and mightily: There is a God. Aye, 
louder and more mighty than anywhere else is the cry in the land of the 
Swiss. The Almighty has His master- work — if such an expression be 
permissible — buried in our own beautiful land. Loudly does the work 
praise the divine Master. What is our land in the midst of Europe? 
An Helvetian hymn to the Almighty. Therefore, be devoted to Him, 
ye Swiss, and be ye faithful! God is the great almighty confederate, 
Who bound our land by an oath when He founded our hills. 

But more fondly still and more splendidly didst Thou, Oh Almighty 
Holy Spirit, hover over the waves of another, a second creation in the 
land of the Swiss. Then were formed not only the granite pillars of 
country, not only did the dead masses and layers of our mountains form 
themselves according to the wise laws of the Creator, clashing and crash- 
ing in and over each other — No ! Living, noble men, our forbears of 
Brunnen and Ruetli sunk the foundation of our liberty, of our constitu- 
tion, of our country in Brunnen and on the Ruetli, deep into the ground 
of the Swiss. We cannot commemorate the natal day of our country 
without thinking of these exalted men who, over the cradle of the Hel- 
vetian covenant, when the favored child of liberty breathed the first 
breath of its life, raised hand and heart in holy oath to God. Their 
confederation originated with God, they soared beyond themselves in 
their sacred oath, and cast the anchor of their hope far into the interior 
of the veil, as the Apostle says, until it took an inextricable hold at the 
throne of God. What the founders of our covenant carried within their 
hearts — ancient parchments and documents, which we have inherited, 
relate. 

The ancient letter of the confederation of 1291 begins with the 
words: u In nomine Domini" — In the name of the Lord. And it con- 
cludes in this glorious sentence: "Concedente Domino," With " God's 
help." Aye, with God's help these principles shall last, for the common 
good, eternally. The old parchment names — at the beginning and at 
the end, as the alpha and the omega — God as the first almighty confed- 
erate of the land. Swiss sharpshooters! was that not a good aim? was 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 743 



that anchor not well planted, when our Ship of State sailed out into the 
history of the world? 

Confederates! Tomorrow is the Monday after the feast of St. 
Ulrich, the day of the battle of Sempach, when we shall commemorate 
the anniversary of the battle in Sempach and in the votive church of 
the court. In Sempach the divine confederation showed itself in a 
marvelous manner. You know the order of the battle of the old Swiss. 
You know the splendid command of their leaders and those touching 
reports of the chroniclers of the battle which are recorded: "Kneel for 
prayer." And they knelt with outstretched arms and appealed to the 
Almighty in great earnestness — oftentimes amid the mockery and 
ridicule of the enemy's camp. You know the street of liberty in which 
the victors of Sempach marched. I only need to connect the names of 
Sempach, the grand days of war and of peace of Brunnen, Mongarten, 
Naefels, Grandson, Murten, Stans, down to the grand deeds of later and 
the latest times, and history proclaims it in thundering tones, like rolling 
avalanches, illuminating and flaming like the alpine glow : God remained 
the first almighty confederate and sworn sharpshooter of the Swiss. 
Aye, ye Swiss sharpshooters! our fatherland aimed well when it prayed 
and it conquered! 

Dearly beloved! I venture to combine the whole Swiss history 
into one word, which we read in Holy Scripture in the fifth book of 
Moses: "The Most High divided the nations. He appointed the 
bounds of His people. . . . the Lord's portion is His people .... He 
led His people, and taught it, and He taught it as the apple of His eye 
. . . and as the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, 
He spread His wings, and hath taken His people and carried it on His 
shoulders. The Lord alone was its leader and there was no strange 
God with it." (Deut., c. 32.) Is this not true? Is God not faithful? 
Aye, He Who heard our oaths and gave the promise is faithful. 

Like the flying of the young eagles art thou, oh Swiss people! Your 
eagle is God, Who placed you upon His pinions and enticed you to fly — 
God Himself is your royal eagle — God Himself is your King, King also 
of this republic. Fly away, fly forward, oh dear land of the Swiss! but 
always fly upward — never without God ! This is a divine federation. 
For its sake the noise of your guns and the patriotic jubilation of your 
feast is silenced for a while today. You have entered the temple of the 
Most High. "This is the day of the Lord" . . . and silence reigns near 
and far. Adoring, I kneel here. Beloved Swiss! The Lord is in His temple. 
Let the whole earth be silent in His presence. When He comes in the 
consecration of mass, adore Him, acknowledge Him, offer Him thanks, 
consecrate to Him your country, pray for your fatherland, fasten the 
anchor of the hope of your country to the divine throne of grace. 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Brethren, what about our confederation? It is a federation between 
God and man, for the temporal and the celestial fatherland. 

How should this be formed? When the great Apostle of nations 
sojourned at Corinth, in Greece, he gazed upon the arena of the powerful 
peninsula in which the grandest national plays of the Greeks — if you 
will, their shooting tournaments — the Isthmian games, were performed; 
he being, possibly, at some time witness of these feasts. In the first 
letter to the Corinthians he recalls to his own mind and to the Christian 
congregation of that city, in a vivid manner, that grand patriotic feast, 
and makes it a figure of the highest thoughts. "Know you not," so he 
writes, "that they who run in the course, all run indeed, but one only 
receives the prize. Thus run you also that you may obtain the prize — 
they receive a perishable wreath, but we an incorruptible crown." 
Confederates! Swiss sharpshooters! I cry out amidst the noise of 
your guns and your wrestling for the prize, into your joyful and festive 
popular movements the same words of the Apostle: Sic currite ut com- 
prehendatis. Thus aim, thus run . . . that you may obtain the prize, 
that you hit the target. 

Our aim, the aim of all, is God, Who has founded the land of the 
Swiss, and Who, protecting it like the eagle, carries it upon His pinions. 
The aim, the aim of all, the aim of all immortal souls, is God, Who sent 
Christ, the Son of God, into our land, and His holy Church which directs 
us to our goal. Be ye led! 

The Apostle Paul once wrote: When Joshua had long ago led the 
people of Israel into the Promised Land, when David had for a long time 
victoriously and quietly possessed, with his own, the same Promised 
Land, then Holy Scripture repeats over and over again the unique say- 
ing: There remains still another rest, a rest of the Sabbath for the 
people of God which is to come. Not only is the rest and the peace of 
the country meant . . . but the Apostle announces that there is still 
another, a higher fatherland, a higher aim, which we must attain at all 
price. Run and arm yourselves that you may reach the goal! Swiss 
sharpshooters! Here all must be conquerors, all must attain the prize. 
God, Who established our country, has also built through this beloved 
land a street that leads to the eternal fatherland. If God has estab- 
lished for us a fatherland without its equal, then we are doubly bound 
to obey His command: to march to the eternal fatherland. Swiss 
sharpshooters ! when you aim — forget not that there is an eternal aim ! 
there is an eternity! Here we have no abiding home, but we seek the 
one to come. 

If man in the fulness and greatness of his power bends his knees in 
spirit and in prayer, then he points toward eternity. If man on Sundays 
interrupts his labor and rests from work and rests in God in divine wor- 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 745 



ship, in the Sunday mass, then he points toward the last goal. An open, 
manly confession, a visit to Jesus at the communion railing and at the 
Altar is a shot into the grand eternal center. To do one's duty, faith- 
fully and straightforward and unflinchingly, and not to make mere 
whim and pleasure our king, to be of a strong character, not a mere 
reed, to be a Christian and not an egoist, to bear in our human heart 
love and humaneness: this is meant by being a confederate of God. So 
run that you may obtain the goal and capture the prize of the conflict. 

But the aim is also our earthly country. God is the author of 
nature and of grace, of our earthly and the celestial fatherland. He 
wills not that the one impede the other. The flourishing and the culture 
of the earthly state, says Leo XIII, 1 by which the dwelling together of 
mortals is ennobled and beautified, is really an image of the splendor and 
glory of the heavenly kingdom. Today, in the midst of our native feast 
and on the eve of that celebrated Monday before St. Ulrich's day, we 
will also place our native thoughts of aim and our patriotic resolutions 
before the High Altar of this church and into the hands of Christ present : 
above all, the united spirit of true confederation, the confederate sense, 
humaneness, and Christian fraternal love, the esteem and love for the 
history of our country and its historical uniqueness; a public sense for 
its progress and for the demands of modern times, which are knocking at 
its portals; an interest and spirit of sacrifice for its defensive force; a 
sense of right and humaneness for the socially heterogeneous classes and 
conditions of the country — for we are all confederates ! a ceaseless 
labor for culture and education, but ever mindful of the fact that God 
is the almighty and first confederate of Switzerland ; in Him religion is 
the supreme teacher and master. 

The spirit of God, beloved brethren, longs to hover over every new 
creation. May He also now rule over all classes and factors and illumine 
all in our own days, when we are putting our hands to a supremely serious 
native work, to a new creation, to a new uniform Swiss law. The 
modern State must do justice to the many wishes and sentiments of our 
miscellaneously composed society. We desire this. But our honored 
name — confederates — admonishes us to square accounts with that 
which is most ancient in the land, with God and the rights of God! 

I shall conclude in the words of the Apostle Paul. He had borrowed 
the image of the aim and of the prize of conflict from the Corinthian 
feasts and plays. Then he added persistently to the same picture: 
"I run, I wrestle, but not as one aiming at nothing, at an uncertainty. 
I fight, but not as one beating the air." This is also your language, oh 
sharpshooters ! And translated here into the language of the Church and 
of life, his words mean: Be ye men! men of principles, men of Christian, 

1 Encyclical of September 8, 1893, Part 3. 



746 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Catholic, and patriotic principles — not shooting in the air, into an un- 
certainty. But, concludes Paul: "Every one who wrestles in the con- 
flict of the world, abstains from all things, so that he may carry away 
the prize. So, too, will I control my body and bring it under subjection 
to the spirit." This again is the language of sharpshooters! The 
crash of our guns, the roar of the cannons, a clear eye and a steady 
hand tell of strenuous work, of self-control, and of discipline in the 
midst of the breakers of the feast. If we translate this again into the 
language of the Church and of life, pointing to our earthly and celestial 
country, it means: Be men of self-control, in whom neither whim nor 
passion rule, not the body, but the spirit, and, above this, the Spirit of 
God Himself. 

Let us pray. Oh Almighty God, be Thou now and ever the first, 
the eternal, the divine confederate and sworn sharpshooter of this our 
country ! Help us that we may deserve that Thou never needest change 
Thy treatment of us! 

When Thou appearest in the morning glow, I see Thee in the ocean 
of rays. When Thou comest in the evening fire, I see Thee in the legion 
of stars. When Thou approachest in the mighty storm, Thou Thyself 
art unto us shelter and defense, oh Almighty Saviour! Aye, hover 
Thou, like an eagle, over the history of our country and entice Thy 
people to the flight of progress with and in God. 

To Thee we direct our oaths, our vows, which we renew in this sacred 
hour. Oh listen to our vows and accept them! 

Keep us within this divine and human confederation! We will 
strive to attain the goal, the prize of the battle for the terrestrial and the 
celestial fatherland. 

Swiss confederates! Let us be men of principles, who never shoot 
in vain. Men of self-control we long to be, in whom all that is low may 
serve that which is elevated; not reeds, no! but Swiss oaks and Swiss 
rocks, confederates among ourselves and confederates of God! Amen! 

In conclusion we will emphasize still another peculiar kind of 
occasional sermons. 

Funeral orations. Where these addresses are of general prac- 
tise or mere exceptions, they afford to the zealous pastor an appro- 
priate occasion, with the use of controlling circumstances, to make 
an impression on the congregation. The homilist may point to 
the last things, to the ways of providence, to the motive for con- 
solation, to the sacraments of the dying, to the mysterium crucis. 
In order that the funeral oration may not degenerate into a pane- 



THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 747 



gyric, and thus, in place of doing good, corrupt the moral judgment 
of the hearers or diminish their respect for the proclaimer of the 
word of God, the following homiletic view-points should be ob- 
served. It is more fruitful to have in view an objective truth, a 
great Christian thought, instead of making the deceased himself 
the basis of the entire address. Yet, a prominent life, especially 
when it conceals within itself a part of ecclesiastical history and is 
objectively treated, may act very edifyingly, if the preacher under- 
stands how to influence souls mightily and to sow practical seed 
into the upturned soil of some strongly touched emotion. Rapidly 
planned and suitably inserted sketches of the life of a deceased 
may also act beneficially in a sermon of a more than general char- 
acter. An incident or event in the life or death of the deceased 
(a mother of a family, a sudden death, sickness of a long duration, 
a last word) might also be used as a connecting point in order to 
introduce a religious theme. 

Where there exists a fixed custom to deliver short addresses at 
funerals, for which there is often little time for preparation, the 
preacher could obtain very fruitful inspiration from a glance at 
the officium defunctorum, at some explanation of the Psalms, at 
the book of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, or at the Imitation of 
Christ, at some good book on the Poor Souls, and also at some 
book on suffering. We recommend especially Sailer's Bible for 
the sick and the dying. 

We would remind the preacher here of the study of one or 
other of the celebrated funeral orations of Bossuet. Some excel- 
lent funeral addresses are also found among the sermons of Sailer, 
and in his works: Friichte echter Pastoral theologie, Bilder aus 
dem Pastorationsleben. A new collection of funeral sermons is 
offered us by Fr. Permanne (Ellwangen, 1902). 



TSOQk VII 



EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 

N our homiletic studies we have closely interwoven 
formal questions of homiletics with direct practical 
questions, and have also considered them very exten- 
sively. This our general conception of homiletics 




demanded, and also the peculiarity of the course of our instruction. 
It will therefore suffice here to gather the main view-points on the 
exterior form and forms of sacred eloquence and to supplement 
them finally. 

§ i. General Question of Form 

The exterior form of sacred eloquence shows itself, above all, 
in the delivery and the action. The homiletic form rests, like the 
entire field of homiletics, on the great thought of the aim : ut Veritas 
Christiana pateat, placeat, moveat. After having, ex professo, treated 
of the homiletic language in the chapter on popular sermons, and 
also occasionally elsewhere, and having, besides, presumed a cer- 
tain fundamental rhetorical training, we shall here limit ourselves 
to a few suggestions. Continuous exercise in the practical homi- 
letic hours of the seminaries and during hours of exercise consti- 
tutes the main thing. In regard to the seminary exercise we would 
especially recommend that he who is engaged in the delivery should 
be accorded, during an hour of serious exercise, a searching, uni- 
versal, and stimulating criticism of his sermon, in regard to the 
contents and the form, with suggestions for improvement, and of 
the fruitfulness of these he should give an immediate account, in 
the next hour of exercises, by a short and new delivery of the same 
sermon. In this second exercise the teacher will do well, in the 
event of mistakes, to interrupt the speaker at once and to apply 

748 



EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 749 



his renewed criticism, whereas at the first uninterrupted delivery, 
which ought be preceded by the reading of a sketch, the criticism 
of the classmates and the final one of the teacher should naturally 
follow. Here we will very briefly consider the questions of form 
under the above mentioned view-points: 

1. Veritas pateat. Everything in the address should bear a 
character of intimate relation to the audience. It must be of the 
utmost importance to the preacher to bring the word of God home 
to each one of his hearers and to the various classes of his audience. 
For this purpose he should observe: 

(a) On part of the language and of the delivery, a conversa- 
tional and a calm demonstrative tone, contrasted from time to 
time with a pathetic tone; furthermore, the rhetorical question, 
the change in the measure of time of the delivery, according to 
the significance and the character of the reasons and motives and 
according to the temperament of the preacher, should likewise be 
considered. A hollow monotony should be avoided, and still more 
the so-called "preacher's tone," which draws out, in an unnatural 
manner, the single syllables and permits the conclusion of a sen- 
tence to move unnaturally and repulsively in a mere half-tone. 
Such mannerisms are repulsive and weaken the interest. 

(b) On part of the action, for the crystallization of truth, the 
quiet demonstrative action is to be recommended, which is neither 
vehement nor narrow nor stiff, which is directed toward the hearer, 
aye, even occasionally assails him and would like to draw him 
visibly to account. 

2. Veritas placeat. (a) For the delivery the following sugges- 
tions should be observed : the attractiveness of truth acts in various 
ways upon the form: the fundamental tone of the address moves 
in perspicuous, brief, and simple but concrete sentences. Vigorous 
sentences, exalted passages, poetically noble, but not self-seeking 
thoughts are often introduced upon this ground through a vivid 
construction of periods. But, in view of the attractive force of truth 
the preacher should guard once more against monotony and against 
the already indicated drawn-out and affected "preacher- tone." 

(b) For action we should like to emphasize the following 
momentous points under the view-point of Veritas placeat: Care 
should be taken against unnatural positions and movements, f.i., 
against the accompaniment of the action with the eyes, against 
the imitation of certain motions through gestures, against boorish 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



and unconventional and ridiculous customs, f.i., against the sway- 
ing of the body, a noisy striking of the pulpit, against improper 
hawking and such like. With sterling contents and an interesting 
delivery many imperfections of motions might readily be over- 
looked. Too great and reflexive attention to gesture acts often 
repulsively and is unmanly. But for the breaking of! of certain 
mannerisms a reflexive attention is indispensably necessary. A 
tactful but not slavish imitation of good models of noble action is 
highly to be recommended. The critical observance of unbecoming 
and affected gestures might become an inducement to control some 
similar faults or opposite extremes. A middle way between the 
nervous and hasty redundance of action and of clumsy and repulsive 
stiffness should be observed. The preacher, however, should not 
forget that the language of motion is different in different tem- 
peraments. 

3. Veritas moveat. (a) For the delivery we should like to refer 
to the language of force and of penetration (see p. 88 sqq.), and the 
wonderful power of virtual pathos. The genuine, full pathos which 
flows from the inmost heart is, in a certain sense, the very crown 
of eloquence. Still, it must not be made the rule and custom in 
delivery, but rather the exception, not the fundamental disposi- 
tion, but the highest operation and the most beautiful blossom. 
Nothing is more repulsive than hollow and far-fetched pathos. 
Dryness and monotony, however, are equally opposed to emo- 
tional passages. Homiletic tact should guide everything into a 
rightful measure. A real, solemn prayer should be introduced 
but seldom, possibly in an extraordinary movement of considerable 
moment, in a solemn peroration, and then only for a short time. 
A change in delivery is of immense importance and also a frequent 
return to the simple, direct, and confidential conversational tone. 

(b) Similar consequences result from action. Where there is 
question of exciting and moving the hearer, there the action moves 
in three regions, in the lower and deeper region through objects 
of alarm, horror, and fear. It rises to the middle region in returning 
to the proving and demonstrative passages with less emotions or 
mixed feeling. Action controls the higher region — one-sidedly 
occasionally, seldom from both sides, in measured limitation, in 
passages of the highest animation, of astonishment, of love, in 
juxtaposition to the most exalted, supreme, and divine. Action 
in width and breadth is suitable in very excited momentous points, 



EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 751 



wherein the impulse of Christian and pastoral love strives to draw 
all things to itself. 

§ 2. Questions Concerning the Form of the Several Parts 

or a Sermon 

The former occasionally interspersed remarks permit us here 
only a mere repeating classification. 

1. The text of the sermon should not be a mere motto , selected 
on the pulpit-steps, but the central idea of the sermon, generally 
expressed by a scriptural text, eventually also by a liturgical text. 
The liturgical texts are mostly also scriptural texts. The text of 
a festive sermon may first be announced in Latin and then in the 
vernacular. The word is thus taken, in the fullest sense, from 
out of the mouth of the Church, and the attention is, furthermore 
drawn to the vernacular translation. 

2. The introduction should be, generally, brief. In most cases 
it is better to elaborate it only at the end of the preparation of 
the entire sermon. Thus vividly fresh thoughts are more readily 
selected, which really lead to the corpus orationis. He who pre- 
pares the introduction at the beginning of the sermon very care- 
fully, will often use the best thoughts in the beginning, which might 
be more advantageously developed in the main structure of the 
sermon. On ordinary Sundays the exordium simplex should be 
mostly selected: a few sentences or one single thought, which 
leads from the just read pericopes to the theme. This should be 
done especially in homilies. In sermons of a cycle often a short 
repetition is announced, which, however, contains within itself 
the important point of the new matter. The exordium solemne on 
feast days should arouse a dormant festive disposition of the people. 
The preacher will often find in the invitatorium of the breviary 
and the Introit of the mass splendid ideas. Ofttimes a surprising, 
brief historical sketch, the allegory of which is later explained, 
forms a splendid introduction. 

3. The main proposition or the theme of a sermon. The prin- 
cipal proposition is announced to great advantage clearly and 
precisely, but without any pedantry, in one or two brief sentences 
or in some pregnant idea. The grammatically uncouth form of 
this in the first part, etc., should be avoided. Two or eventually 
three principal sentences on the trend of thoughts might be an- 
nounced. But, as a rule, one principal proposition is more advis- 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



able, the main parts of which may be announced later — i.e., then, 
when they fit into the whole structure of the sermon, therefore, 
when they really begin. For instance: Proposition: What does 
Jesus think of faith? The parts or points: He demands faith very 
strongly — He praises faith — He educates up to faith — He con- 
demns unbelief — are only then introduced when the progress and 
the climax of the sermon has reached them. Not infrequently 
does the form of questions recommend itself for the announcement 
of clear and precise themes of sermons. In the homily the main 
proposition may be announced by the following or similar words: 
Let us contemplate the Gospel, which we have just read, or: Let 
us learn to know our Saviour better through the Gospel of today! 
Let us follow the Gospel step by step, and such like. There is 
also a synthetic form of a sermon in which the main proposition 
remains latent, but animates and controls the whole like a soul, 
in order to break forth in the full light of the thesis at the end, 
simultaneously with the central application. Fancy a sermon 
which proceeds from the conversation with Nicodemus and from 
the fundamental thought of that conversation: on the second 
birth, the new life, the new power, and then develop deeper and 
deeper and more triumphantly the essence, the source, and the 
fruits of this new life, in order finally to terminate in the expressed 
thesis and definitions: all that which you have heard today about 
Jesus and which I have explained to you in the name of the Church 
concerning the words of Jesus — is the inestimable sanctifying 
grace, of which the catechism speaks to the children. Do not 
lose your grace — never! at no price! . . . grow in grace . . .! 
The main proposition or theme of a sermon must be conceived and 
expressed in an ecclesiastical spirit and with a certain religious 
unction. It should therefore be homogeneous, properly limited, 
psychologically composed, clear, popular, and practical. If pos- 
sible it should carry within itself an important point of novelty. 
The biblical text may often be at the same time the principal 
theme of the sermon. Then the whole address will appear as an 
exegesis of a saying of the Lord or of a passage of Holy Scripture. 
A biblical or liturgic-biblical coloring may be given frequently to 
the theme of the sermon, f.i., on Holy Saturday: Today we shall 
consider with the Church Christ — Crucified: (i) God's wisdom; 
and (2) God's power. 

The liturgy, the definitions of councils, good theological text- 



EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 753 



books, and splendid popular text-books on religion, also simple, 
clear, and plain personal thinking united with pastoral efforts of 
love and a desire to approach and interest the people as much as 
possible through the theme of a sermon, and, furthermore, a revi- 
sion of the formal disposition of the theme after the elaboration 
of the sketch and of the address itself — all this leads to — and 
qualifies for a happy final selection and announcement of — the 
eventually main proposition. From a linguistic point all inserted 
or otherwise dragging sentences should be avoided. The theme 
of the sermon should be free from all far-fetched and affected arti- 
fices, but should give no evidence of academic egg-shells. A very 
interesting and stimulating monograph on themes of sermons is 
that of W. H. Meunier: Die Lehre vom Predigtthema, Paderborn, 
Schoeningh, 1893. I n the course of our homiletic studies we have 
treated in detail the question of the disposition of themes often in 
a theoretic and practical manner. 

4. The disposition. The sketching and the disposition should 
be exteriorly prominent throughout the whole sermon, yet not in 
a stereotyped manner, not like the division of a learned disserta- 
tion. The disposition should appear artistical, like the archi- 
tectonic lines of a building, sharp, clear, but also covered with 
ornamentations, modified and well-measured throughout the whole 
address. It is especially advisable to emphasize new parts and 
important subdivisions by some pithy sentence or idea. Striking 
and rapid repetitions of the main idea and of the principal points 
are very practical, also of the rising subdivisions by appropriate 
catchwords, etc., whenever a new advance is made in the address. 
This should, of course, not be done in a stereotyped manner on 
every step taken. 

A certain equihbrium of parts is to be very much recommended. 
Still, symmetry is by no means a supreme law. Often there fol- 
lows to a I. part a longer II. part, and vice versa. All this depends 
finally on the contents and the aim of the address. Thus, f.i., 
Cicero's oration pro Murena contains in the I. part 4 numbers, 
and in II. part 38 numbers, in the III. part 34 numbers — de lege 
agraria in the I. part 17 numbers, in II. part 56 numbers. If the 
sermon should be divided into two or three principal parts, then 
these chapters of thoughts are brought to the full knowledge of 
the hearers to great advantage. But it is not advisable to arrange 
this always in the same academic manner. Neither does an ob- 



754 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



ligated longer interval, with the little edifying hemming and hawk- 
ing, belong by any means to the permanent stock of homiletics. 

5. The execution. For the exterior formation of the whole 
execution of the sermon we refer again briefly to principles which 
we have already mentioned elsewhere. 

(a) The sermon should be a constant intercourse with the 
hearer, a virtual dialogue with the audience, but not a dissertation 
intended for no one. 

(b) The argumentation should likewise bear a rhetorical char- 
acter. The preacher should labor and make strenuous efforts to 
induce the people to think and follow step by step. The momentous 
point of novelty, appropriate intervals and repetitions, happily 
interwoven rhetorical questions are linguistic means for this purpose. 

(c) In regard to the emotional part of a sermon it should be 
remembered that a declamation of emotions is unpalatable and 
unfruitful. But a possible introduction of personal emotions, aye, 
the very dragging of them into the thing itself and into the ardor 
of the preacher, is a matter of real rhetoric. Thus, f.i., in a sermon 
on the occasion of a first mass celebration the dogmatic-practical 
development of the teaching office, or of the sacerdotal office, of the 
holy sacrifice of the mass, of the consecration to the altar and to 
men, would effect much more than a declamation of superlatives 
and emotions on the indescribable dignity of the priesthood. The 
affectively developed dogma, great views into the height, depth, 
width, and breadth of sacerdotal activity, takes a far different hold 
upon souls, than an abstract panegyric, spiked with tautologies 
and with reflexive and academically established emotions. 

6. The transitions. Academic and stereotyped transitions very 
often act in an unpsychological manner, unless they originate from 
a certain natural simplicity of the preacher, which is otherwise 
combined with solid wealth and virtual power of penetration. We 
reprehend especially the long bridges, the mental revolving targets 
and switches in order to pass from the Gospel to some old theme, 
to an academic exposition or slavish imitation of a sermon-book. 
Equally meaningless are the forms: " Grant me your patience and 
attention," tedious tautologies and commonplaces, which bubble, 
up, from time to time, and completely murder the ideas. 

7. The peroration. It can never be sufficiently emphasized 
that the peroration should be carefully elaborated, in order that 
the end spoil not the beginning, that the conclusion of a sermon 



EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 755 



may not resemble a ship which, in a storm of excitement, finds 
no landing-place. The peroration must be animated and governed 
by a central idea. From the peroration the central idea is to shine 
forth to the hearer, so that it finally may burn in his soul, illumine 
and never be extinguished. The central idea is that which emanates 
from the aim of the sermon and which one would be disposed to 
reiterate every moment in the sermon were it permissible to say 
the same thing over. In the solemn peroration an admonition is 
most recommendable, when placed in a setting of Holy Scripture. 
A scriptural text is repeated and is shown from its various sides 
through the central thought, or all important applications and 
resolutions are concentrated therein. The peroration should never 
be too long. A final admonition concerning eternity is often very 
appropriate and practical, but this should not become a custom. 
Unrhetorical forms of speech should likewise be avoided, which 
cut off the points from every homiletic development, f.i., "this 
I wish you from my whole heart," and such like. The climax of 
the pathos of the peroration often rises to the highest animation: 
tongues of fire fall upon the preacher, and flames of fire penetrate 
into the very souls of the hearers. Oftentimes the peroration re- 
turns from a high pathos of its last series of thoughts to the noblest, 
quietest, and confidential conversational tone. Herein temperament 
and talent make their own laws and methods on a wide background 
of homiletic and artistic fundamental views. But, above all, there 
is a higher Vivificator: Spiritus ubi vult spirat et nescis unde veniat 
ant quo vadat! 

§ 3. The Creation of a Single Sermon 

The psychologic-practical method of our studies has made us, 
especially in the treatment of the sources, again and again familiar 
with the creation of a single sermon. In conclusion we will here 
merely gather everything under certain and more formal view- 
points. 

1. The indirect preparation is important in the study, the 
reading, the meditative penetration of religion, and not merely 
before the opened sermon-book. In reading the question should 
of ten be asked : Can I not also preach this to my people? (Creat- 
ing a cornu copiae; taking notes; in writing down good thoughts, 
emotions, and pastoral experiences.) 

2. The preacher should put himself into a proper mood. The 



756 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



reading of Holy Scripture, of the Imitation of Christ, of some 
other sympathetic religious book, though not in the least con- 
nected with the subject, often acts beneficially and creates a proper 
mood. 

3. The sermon should not merely possess the odor of an oil- 
lamp, though serious study is most important. Prayer to the Father 
of light, from whom all benefits and good gifts flow, and every 
perfect gift, should accompany the preparation and the elaboration 
of the sermon and make this pastoral work a part of divine service. 

4. The fundamental element of a practical course is a good store 
of sketches. But these should not be mere abstract schemes, 
but thoughtful and especially elaborated reviews, with rich scrip- 
tural material and definite practical view-points. 

5. Much service is rendered by a direct and, even more, by an 
indirect study of good examples of classical and popular preachers. 
Longum iter per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla. A slavish 
clinging to a sermon book is death to real eloquence. 

6. The different individuality of preachers should be granted 
its own rights in the elaboration; in a certain sense each one creates 
his own method of preparation. 

7. Yet, in spite of this, a general valuable course of preparation 
may be planned in great outlines: 

(a) According to the admonition of St. Augustin, God's help 
should be invoked. 

(b) Determine the subject of the sermon; define clearly whether 
it should be treated more didascaily than paregoretically. Then 
write down the subject and the special aim in a clear conception, 
but be sure to conceive the aim very securely and sharply and 
enlist in the service of the same all your thinking and labor. 

(c) Seek the thoughts, write them down, f.i., numerically: 
they are, as it were, the raw material in the hands of the preacher: 
Omnis scriba doctus in regno coelorum similis est homini patrij ami- 
lias , qui profert de thesauro suo nova et Vetera. (Matt. 13: 52.) 

(d) Examine the material, classify it, eliminate the superfluous 
or surplus, determine the parts, then elaborate the sketch in detail, 
and thus create gradually the final disposition. Often the defects 
of the sketch become more manifest in the execution. Therefore, 
the preacher need not be over anxious during the elaboration in 
regard to each detail of the selected sketch; it should be the staff 
and support, but not the belt; 



EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 757 



(e) Write the sermon. The best teacher of homiletic exposi- 
tion is the pen. The preacher should write his sermons as care- 
fully as possible : Without this means it is absolutely impossible for 
an incipient preacher to avoid superficiality, insipidity of thought, 
and mere formality. Even the well-trained preacher should, from 
time to time, return to a fully written elaboration, and not preach 
exclusively from sketches. During a pressure of work the most 
exact sketching with positive material is to be recommended 
(without it every sketch is a mere bed of ease), and then a written 
elaboration of the more difficult parts, of the central application, 
and of the peroration. 

8. In regard to memorizing a sermon it must be said that it is 
well, according to the custom of great preachers, to learn a sermon by 
heart, but in this matter the judicious activity of the memory is 
unhesitatingly preferable to the mechanical. However, in this a 
certain liberty of spirit may be observed. In time the pedantic 
learning by heart will become generally superfluous. During the 
first sketching and elaboration the greatest part will impress itself 
most likely upon the memory — and the painfully exact learning 
by heart may be limited to the positive citations and the more 
difficult parts. Temperament and talent go a great way in this mat- 
ter. Death, however, to genuine sacred eloquence is a miserable 
confidence in routine. 

Above all, however, the disposition and the positive material 
should be securely imprinted on the memory. The long practise 
of the preacher who meditates will easily enable him in time to 
preach very fruitfully, aye, even better according to a sketch. 
But such sketches should not be mere pale skeletons, but contain 
an abundance of thoughts, rich in scriptural contents, and of posi- 
tive evidence of material and of a definite establishment of practical 
aims. But even amongst such conditions a return to a fully written 
elaboration is recommendable from time to time. 

We will conclude these homiletic studies with the words of 
St. Paul to Timothy (II Tim. 2: 15): 

" Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a 
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word 
of truth: oper avium inconfusibilern, recte tractantem verbum veritatis." 



Part ii 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 

INTRODUCTION 

§i. Catechesis, Catechist, Catechism, Catechetics 

HE word — Karrjxew or Karrjx^v signifies to speak from 
an elevated standpoint, from above, possibly also, to 
sound from above. 1 In a figurative sense the word had 
already received among the Greek profane writers the 
meaning of instructing, especially by word of mouth. 

Christianity adopted the word Karrjx^^, Latin catechizar e,for 
the instruction of minors in Christianity, be they children or 
adults. We find it already in Luke i : 4. The evangelist desires 
to relate everything to his Theophilus, in order that he may attain 
a well-grounded knowledge of the doctrines in which he had been 
catechized: irepi lov KaTrjxqdrj^ \6ycov. 

In the same and still more distinctly pronounced sense we 
find the word among the Fathers of the Church: KanqyowTai oi 
iOvoiv lSmotgll. (Clement of Alexandria, Strom., 6:15.) 
But, from the very beginning, /car^y^e^ {catechizare) meant 
not exclusively a mere theoretic instruction, but, at the same time, 
the instructive introduction of minors {neophytes) into the Chris- 
tian faith and the life of grace, in a word: the supernatural educa- 
tion to maturity in Christ Jesus. (See Schoberl, p. 3.) 

In this sense the above mentioned notion was inherited through 
all the centuries of Christianity, down to our own time. And the 
very word, which primeval Christianity selected for the same 
activity, passed into many Christian languages. 

1 Eventually it meant, in the fundamental meaning: to resound, to fill with copious 
sound (of words), to address, to instruct, to educate, to be informed of a thing. 

758 




CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



759 



In the course of time the Christian youth took the place of the 
Christian minor adults. Therefore, catechizing means the instruc- 
tion and education of the youth up to a Christian maturity. 

Catecheses are, therefore, addresses, instructions, and informa- 
tions imparted for religious culture and the education of the youth, 
either in the church, the school, or elsewhere, to children in the 
narrow sense or to the more mature youth. 

A catechist is one called by Christ and sent by the Church as 
teacher and educator of youth. 

A catechumen is one to be instructed. 

A catechism is a summary of the contents, an epitome and a 
guide for this instruction. 

Catechetics, finally, is the scientific and practical direction of 
catechizing for that pastoral activity by which youth is educated 
up to its Christian maturity. 

The history of catechetics is, therefore, as old as the catechesis 
itself. Amongst the writings of the Fathers of the Church we 
find many directions and collections of examples of catecheses 
(f.i., of Cyrill of Jerusalem). St. Augustin yielded to the pressure 
for a united systematization, by his celebrated work: De catechi- 
zandis rudibus. Petisti a me, f rater Deogratias, ut aliquid ad te de 
catechizandis rudibus, quod tibi usui esset, scriberem. Dixisti enim, 
quod saepe apud Carthaginem, ubi diaconus es, ad te adducuntur, qui 
fide Christiana primitus imbuendi sunt, eo quod existimeris habere 
catechizandi facultatem. (Introduction to the mentioned work.) 

Later times, especially the middle ages, evolved the principles 
of St. Augustin, especially for the pastoral care of the youth. The 
flourishing times of catechetics were, especially, the best times of 
the middle age, the times after the Council of Trent, and probably 
also our more modern times. (An orientation of the history of 
the catechism — see below.) 

Among more modern literature we may emphasize: Gruber: 
" Katechetische Vorlesungen," Vol. I: "Des hi. Augustinus, 
Theorie der Katechetik," etc. The same: " Pracktisches Hand- 
buch der Katechetik," with various later alterations. Hirscher: 
. "Besorgnisse iiber die Erteilung unseres Religionsunterrichtes." 
In the homiletic works of Jungmann catecheses are likewise treated 
(several very interesting dissertations), and Schleiniger (short, but 
stimulating), the Pastoral theology of Schiich (minutely and 
partly of great practical use), and Renninger-Gopfert (briefly, but 
very intellectually presented, very much according to St. Augustin). 



760 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



In recent times independent catechetics appeared, such as that of 
Schoberl, Kemp ten, 1890 (very stimulating and especially inter- 
esting in regard to the history of the catechism), also that of Dr. 
Noser, 3. ed., 1901 (brief, methodically, and pedagogically very 
good). For a history of catechetics see Schoberl, Lehrb. der kath. 
Katechetik. Propst, Geschichte der kath. Katechese, Weiss, die 
alt christliche Padagogik; Mayer, John, Geschichte des Kate- 
chumenats and der Katechese im Abendland; Rolf us und Pfister, 
Realencyklopaedie des Erziehungs- und Unterrichtswesens ; Baum- 
gartner, Geschichte der Padagogik, das Kirchenlexikon iiber Kate- 
chetik, etc., see also above, pp. 254, 273, 282, 385 sqq. 

§ 2. Division of Catechetics 

The division and the systematic arrangement of catechetics 
were proposed in various ways. The division into instruction and 
education meets, in its practical application, with a great many 
difficulties, because these two sides of catechesis constantly inter- 
fere with each other. A division of the matter into history, doc- 
trine, life, cultivation, and discipline calls for many repetitions 
and imperfections. In our homiletic studies we have laid a broader 
scientific-practical foundation, and treated therewith many of the 
principal questions of catechetics. Therefore, we shall simply 
divide catechetics according to the different grades of the cate- 
chumens, since every grade of instruction and of education forms 
a certain exclusive whole and possesses real characteristic proper- 
ties. But we shall first premise, in a general part, a disquisition 
on the fundamental and general methodic questions. 

Thus our division of catechetics will be formed as follows: 

/. The Fundamental Part: 

Chapter I. The duty of the catechist. 
Chapter II. The person of the catechist. 
Chapter III. The method of the catechist. 

77. Special Part: 

Chapter I. The instruction and the education of the smallest 

children (without a book). 
Chapter II. The instruction and education of the children 

for confession and Holy Communion (with the use of the 

catechism and Bible history). 
Chapter III. The instruction and the education of the more 

mature youth. 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



761 



/. TEE FUNDAMENTAL PARTS OF CA TECHETICS 

CHAPTER I 

THE DUTY OF THE CATECHIST 

The office of the catechist is an extremely important one and 
indispensably necessary in the Church of Christ. A whole volume 
of proofs might be adduced in confirmation of this. Let a few 
be recalled to mind: 

1. The already developed idea of catechesis and catechetics. 
This idea alone is sufficient proof to establish the importance and 
the necessity of catechetics. 

2. The idea, significance, and the nobility and dignity of every 
homiletic activity in general. The reasons emphasized above, pp. 
33-35, are here also applicable. 

3. The infinite value of the souls of children. The immortal 
soul of a child is God's natural and supernatural image. The 
catechist should, therefore, often meditate on the wealth of grace 
in the baptized soul of a child, on the slumbering spring of the 
virtues and gifts infused into this soul, on the beautiful and majestic 
characteristics of the incipient virtuous life in the little one, which 
are: innocence, humility, obedience, and docility. 

The catechist, however, should likewise consider the divine 
order of salvation arranged for the development, preservation, and 
unfolding of the infused grace and virtue for which the co-operat- 
ing direction and guidance of pastoral care is necessary. The 
angels, ever in the sight of God and the Blessed Trinity itself, ac- 
cording to the word of the same, take interest in the souls of chil- 
dren and become their guardians. The catechist, therefore, who 
has a real conception of his duty, stands before his charge fully con- 
scious of his responsibility, animated by the sentiments of St. Paul : 
Dei enim sumus coadjutores, Dei agricultura estis, Dei aedificatio 
estis. (I Cor. 3:9, 10 sqq.) 

4. Dangers to the souls of children. Dogma, moral, and experi- 
ence teach us that heaven and hell are engaged in battle for the 
soul of every child. The catechist is sent by the Church, at the 
command of God, as the champion of heaven for youth. He should 
be its spiritual father in the conflict. He should take the utmost 



762 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



care that the grace of God remain in the souls of the children, and 
that their life and faith and grace may grow. He is the angel of 
Paradise, for the protection of the grace and innocence of youth: 
Filioli, quos iterum parturio, donee formetur Christus in vobis. (Gal. 
4: 19.) Nam si decern millia paedagogorum habeatis in Christo, sed 
non multos patres. (I Cor. 4: 15.) 

5. The destiny of children. This is no other than heaven. The 
catechesis is therefore essentially the salvation of souls, the rearing 
of souls for heaven, and, therefore, immensely important and indis- 
pensably necessary. (See p. 33.) 

6. The beautiful field of labor in the souls of the children. 
The souls of children are easily accessible to religion, because the 
human mind, especially the unadulterated, longs for God, and 
because the life of grace exists and operates in the souls of children, 
ever since the reception of baptism. The natural indifference of 
youth, augmented by original sin, and also the still undeveloped 
mental faculties, create indeed many difficulties. But the acces- 
sibility to the souls of children make the field of labor beautiful 
and inviting. But the very difficulties call for a courageous appli- 
cation of talents and gifts and of the entire methodic possibility, 
with the aid of richly dispensed grace. This wrestling and battling 
for the welfare of youth precisely contains within itself a unique 
beauty. And this twofold beauty opens in a twofold manner the 
importance of the catechesis in a new light. 

7. The present and the future of the Church. The present and 
the future of the Church manifest the importance and the neces- 
sity of the catechesis: 

(a) The present. Youth is the most precious part of the Church 
of Christ and her brightest ornament. A good youth is a spectacle 
to God and angels and men. Of a well-reared youth the pastor 
may say with the Apostle: Fratres mei carissimi et desideratissimi, 
gaudium meum et corona mea, sic state in Domino, carissimi. (Phil. 
4:1; 1:3-8; compare also Phil. 1 : 23-26; 2:17-18; 4:1; applied 
to the youth.) (Compare p. 48 sqq.; 452 sqq.) 

(b) The future. The future of the Church depends, in a great 
measure, upon a good catechization. He who has the youth has 
the future. The catechist is herein the co-laborer of the Holy 
Ghost. With Him he builds up the mystical body of Christ. He 
places the children as living stones within the building of God. 
He supports them with the Holy Ghost as vigorous branches of 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



763 



the vine of Christ, he purifies them and leads them to the fulness 
of the years of Christ. (Compare, pp. 452 sqq., 460 sqq.) 

A good catechization is also the best foundation for a fruitful 
preaching activity, and for the preacher himself the best practical 
school of exercise. Furthermore, the pastor will find the easiest 
way into families through children. The love for children is really 
the key to families, to the whole parish, to its future. All this is 
likewise applicable to the whole Church. Good catechists and 
teachers of the youth are a power in the world. The Church is 
in need of such; they are for her an indispensable necessity. 

The reasons quoted complete the proof of our thesis: the office 
of the catechist is highly important and indispensably necessary. 

CHAPTER II 

THE PERSON OF THE CATECHIST 

We desire to draw especial attention to all that we have said 
about the person of the preacher and concerning the zeal for souls 
of the pastor in general and in particular, but mainly of the spirit 
of faith, of prayer, of humility, and of love in our homiletics (pp. 
37-48). In this the most important is zeal for souls: Libentissime 
impendam et super imp endar ipse pro animabus vestris. (II Cor. 
12: 15.) Upon this background we wish, for the benefit of the 
catechist, to insert a few ideas. 

1. The pastoral love of the friend of children. In the catechist 
pastoral love receives a special coloring. It becomes in him the 
friend of children. The catechist is invited to be the friend of 
children by: 

(a) The example by Jesus: Sinite parvulos, et nolite eos prohibere 
ad me venire: talium enim est regnum coelorum. (Matt. 19: 14.) 

(b) By the convincing reasons which the Saviour adduces, 
especially in Matt. 18: 1 sqq., for the love of children, and which 
we have already considered, mainly in the previous chapter. (The 
value, end, danger, the present and the future of the souls of the 
children, the field of the labor for and in them.) 

2. The love of the friend of children — a foundation and root of 
catechetic qualifications. It endows, in fact, the catechist with the 
rest of the qualifications for intercourse with the children. It 
makes him: 



764 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(a) Condescending: Non recedat de pectore tuo cogitatio gallinae 
illius, quae languidulis plumis teneros foetus operit et susurrantes 
pullos confracta voce advocat. {Aug. De catech. rudibus, c. 10, n. 15.) 
The condescending catechist makes: 

(a) Truth accessible to the children: Lac vobis potum dedi, non 
escam, nondum enim poteratis. (II Cor. 3:2.) 

Q8) He finds for this the language of the children, by straining 
every talent to bring home to the minds of the children the real, 
ecclesiastical, and thorough truth. Gestabo humeris et balbutientia 
senex verba formabo, multo gloriosior niundi philosopho, qui {ego) 
non regem Macedonum Babylonico periturum veneno, sed ancillam 
et sponsam Christi erudiam regnis coelestibus qfferendam. Hierony- 
nius, Ep. 18, see chap. Ill, Art. 3, § 3, excursus. 

(y) The condescending catechist will also find his way to the 
hearts of the children, by not despising any of these little ones, 
but by viewing each one in the light of the love of Jesus. (Com- 
pare Renninger-Gopfert, Pastoral, 470 sqq.) 

The love of the friend of the children will make the catechist : 

{b) Persevering. The friend of children will regard the entire 
catechization a seed planting, of which he knows in advance that it 
will only mature slowly, little by little, in much patience, and by 
overcoming every obstacle with God's grace. (Compare August. 
De catech. Rudibus, c. 10-14; see John 4: 37 sqq.; see above, p. 
128 sqq.) 

The love of the friend of children will make the catechist : 
{c) Joyful and cheerful: joy is a decisive momentous point of 
success in the catechesis. A gloomy spirit, repugnance, and weari- 
ness and uncontrolled whimsicality act directly and paralyzingly 
on children. All great catechists and pedagogues agree in this. 
St. Augustin gives hereon splendid thoughts in his oft-quoted work, 
under the question: Quibus modis faciendum sit ut gaudens quisque 
catechizet? Of this disposition of the catechist he says: Ea cur a 
maxima est (c. 2, n. 4, and c. 10-15). As an admonition he adds 
two very beautiful comparisons : We take pleasure in a well-known 
region if we can show it to a friend who has never seen it. We 
experience great joy if we can show to a lost traveler the way 
through a well-known region: Thus our instruction becomes aglow 
through the new knowledge imparted to our hearers. (L. c. c. 
12, n. 17.) To this may be added the reasons which we have given 
on the immense importance and necessity of catechesis in the last 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 765 

chapter. They are all reasons of joy. (Compare Renninger- 
Gopfert: Pastoral, p. 470; see above, p. 193 sqq.) 

CHAPTER III 

THE METHOD OF THE CATECHIST 

After having carefully considered the duty and the person of 
the catechist, it remains to consider, in a fundamental manner, 
the activity of the catechist in his office and task. 

We will answer the following questions: 

1. Which is the catechetical method? 

2. Is a catechetical method at all necessary? 

3. To what principles may a catechetical method be briefly 
reduced? 

According to the measure of these questions the chapter will 
be divided into three articles. 

Article i. What is a Catechetical Method? 

A catechetical method is the fundamental and psychological 
application of catechetical means of instruction and education with 
a regard for the individual qualification and religious life of the 
various catechumens, for the purpose of fostering and attaining 
the catechetical end in the supernatural light. 

Article 2. Is a Method Necessary? 

We answer emphatically in the affirmative and establish this 
answer by the following reasons: 

1. The nature of the thing. The psychological talents of man, 
especially the gradual development of children, also the gradual 
progressive development of the life of grace, in like manner the 
various dangers according to age and development, and far above 
all these, the high aim and the holy means of the catechesis require 
a firm, well-planned procedure, not a haphazard beating and strik- 
ing at uncertainties. 

2. The authority of the greatest pedagogues. 

(a) God Himself, the supreme teacher of man and of the human 
race, instructs and directs all, on the whole, and in particular, 
according to the plan of the world, by His infinite wisdom and 



766 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



love. His activity therefore is the prime image and model of 
every methodic pedagogy. (Compare above, the divine pedagogy, 
pp. 103-146.) 

(b) Christ educated and educates Apostles and disciples, the 
people and the nations with a divine-human wisdom, according 
to a well-ordered plan and with a well-calculated selection of means, 
according to the needs, conditions, talents, and progress of His own. 
(Compare the school of the Apostles in the Gospels, also the gradual 
and ofttimes surprisingly advanced treatment of some individuals, 
f.i., of the Samaritan woman, of Nicodemus, Peter, pp. 137 sqq., 
441 sqq.) 

(c) The Church in her decisions and directions in general and 
provincial councils, always championed a methodically well-ordered 
and calculated treatment of the catechumens (compare, f.i., the 
education of the catechumens by the ancient Church, the school 
of the catechumens and the catechetical schools), the many decrees 
of councils, especially of Trent, the various diocesan statutes, the 
Roman Catechism, etc. (Compare Schoberl, pp. 20-254.) 

. (d) The great catechists since the days of the Fathers are de- 
cidedly in favor of a methodic training. Of this an extraordinary 
literature extant is proof. To this may be added: 
(e) The unanimous judgment of the pedagogues. 
Scholium: The objection raised that there are good catechists 
without any methodic training is of no value, for: 

(a) Such men found of themselves, amidst great work, their 
own method. 

(b) Many of them would have succeeded far better with a 
methodic training. 

(c) Children should not be a mere experimental field for un- 
trained catechists. 

(d) Many methodic principles may be found without any aid, 
but alas! only after many mistakes and harmful deceptions for 
the catechist and the catechumen. 

Article 3. To what Principles may the Catechetic Method 

be Reduced? 

The entire catechesis is properly a practical guidance for 
practical catechization. There is question here of reducing the 
whole question of method to a few principles. In this manner 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



767 



we shall obtain, at the same time, an almost complete pedagogical 
method. 

We shall reduce the whole methodics to three methodical main 
principles: 

1. Catechize solely for God, Who is the end of the catechumens. 

2. Catechize as the representative of God, Who is the supreme 
teacher. 

3. Catechize as one who knows men, because you have to deal 
with men and their development. 

We will treat of these three main principles in three paragraphs, 
in order to draw from each practical rules. 

§ 1. Catechize and Educate for God and for 
Eternity 

This supreme principle follows from the aim and end of man 
and from the essence of religion. From it we deduce the following 
methodic principles: 

(a) Catechize in a Christian manner, i.e., educate the Christian 
for Christ, with Christ, and in Christ: Filioli, quos iterum parturio 
donee formetur Christus in vobis. (Gal. 4: 19.) To place the person 
of the divine Saviour always in the center and foreground should 
be urgently impressed on the catechist. He should confirm his 
teaching from the mouth of Jesus, he should depict briefly the oft- 
highly suggestive circumstances in which Jesus announced the 
doctrine, etc. (p. 85). The catechist should show, especially, 
grace as a gift of Jesus. Thus he will establish in the catechumens 
a great love for the Saviour and a deep conviction that men can do 
absolutely nothing for salvation without Jesus. If the catechist 
succeeds in painting the person of the Saviour and placing Him 
in the center of the catechesis, then he acts entirely according to 
the spirit of the Gospel. There the life and the person of Jesus 
appear in a remarkable manner always as the first and the last: 
Venite omnes ad me — ego sum via, Veritas et vita — ego pastor bonus 
— ego cognosco oves meas et cognoscunt me meae; ego sum ostium 
ovium — discite a me — sine me nihil potestis facer e — ego sum alpha 
et omega, principium et finis — sinite parvulos venire ad me. (Cf . 
Homiletics, pp. 48, 56, 99, 100 sqq., 137 sqq., and "The principal 
themes of sermons." On this subject, see the beautiful concep- 
tions of St. Paul, by Simar: "Theologie des hi. Paulus." Com- 



768 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



pare also, Gerson: De trahendis parvulis ad Jesum; Cardinal Wise- 
man: "Letters on education"; Wittman's Life, Alb. Stolz: u Er- 
ziehungskunst," Jungmann: Geistl. Beredtsamkeit, vol. II, p. 
900 sqq.). 

This most important point of the catechesis should be observed 
especially: 

(a) In the instruction of small children by a beautiful and 'well 
prepared narration of the life of Jesus. 

(/J) By an early introduction of the youth into intercourse with 
Jesus in the holy sacrifice of the mass. 

(y) In a good treatment of Bible History. 

(8) By a skilled interweaving and interspersion of the life of 
Jesus into the catechetical instructions. 

(e) Especially in the instructions of the first communicants. 

(b) Catechize in ait ecclesiastical manner: Christ continues to 
live in His Church. He can only be found, even by the catechumen, 
in His Church. Union with the Church is therefore the second 
law of catechization. 

The spirit and the love of the Church should be one of the 
first seeds for the infant heart. Therefore, do not wait for the 
treatment of the ninth article of the Creed, but instil into the minds 
of the children, as early as possible, a simple notion of the Church; 
this is done in the best manner through the attractive expression 
of the following thoughts of the Gospel: The Saviour is the Good 
Shepherd; He gathers His lambs; He gathers His sheep (Jerusa- 
lem, Galilee, etc.). The lambs are the people in general; the 
sheep precede the lambs; the sheep are the Apostles, the bishops, 
the priests. The Saviour appoints Peter shepherd over all lambs 
and sheep. Jesus first dies for all lambs and all sheep, then He 
rises for all from the dead. Peter was the first Pope, etc. 

(c) Catechize and educate for the supernatural life: As the 
sermon, so likewise the catechesis acts solely and alone for the 
supernatural life (John 10: 10). (See pp. 33, 34, 44, 50 sqq.) 
From this it follows how important, above all measure, the state 
of grace of the children is to the catechist, their battle against sin 
and mortal sin for the present and for the future, their practical 
Christian life, their reception of the sacraments and the Christian 
education of the character of youth. For all this a mere philological 
catechesis would be valueless. (Compare herewith also above the 
chapter on the duty of the catechist.) 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



769 



§ 2. Catechize and Educate as the Representative 

oe God 

Because God wills it that every priest should teach by His 
authority the truth guaranteed by God and educate with God's 
grace by the same divine authority, therefore is the catechist (in 
a wider and more direct sense also every educator) a representative 
of God of the first order. Even among the children the priest is a 
messenger, an Apostle of Christ. Pro Christi legatione jungimur, 
tanquam Deo exhortante per nos. II Cor. 5: 20. (See above, pp. 
36 and 43.) From this the following methodic principles follow: 

(a) Catechize with authority: for this speak the example of 
Christ, (see, f.i., John 7:16; 13:13; 14:6; Matt. 28: 10), the 
entire conception of the Church (consult the doctrine on jurisdic- 
tion and the incorporation of the teaching office into the potestas 
jurisdictions, see above, introduction, n. 4 and 5, pp. 19-21 sqq., 
23 sqq.), and, finally, experience. 

Authority is the foundation of instruction, of education, and 
of discipline. Consequently the catechist must attain authority 
for himself from the very first hour. Without authority the cate- 
chist is a lost man. " After long study, and much experience 
gathered by hard labor, I asked myself the question: Which are 
the two foundations of education? And serious reflection answered: 
Authority and respect." Dunpanloup, Education, 1, 1. The 
authority of the catechist has a double root: 

(a) The deepest root is the supernatural divine mission, which, 
therefore, is likewise to be brought to the knowledge of the chil- 
dren in their earliest youth. (Compare, f.i., the address in Mey's 
complete catecheses for the lower classes of schools.) 

(/3) The other root is personal activity, irreproachableness, 

manly dignity, and tact in the catechist. 

Authority matures in the youth also a double fruit: 

(aa) An ecclesiastical sense, which essentially is a spirit of respect 

for authority. 

08/3) A good discipline, the foundation of every joyful and 
fruitful school activity. 

From the qualification of a representative of God follows, 
furthermore, a still higher demand: 

(b) Catechize with love. God is love. The doctrinal and 
educational activity of Christ is pure love. From Christ the 



77o HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Apostle and the Church have learned the pedagogic principle: 
Charitas Christi urget nos. According to St. Augustin, love is the 
mother and the inventrix of all right methods of life and of educa- 
tion : ama et fac quod vis. For the rest, see the second fundamental 
chapter on the person of the catechist, and also the treatise on 
the person of the homilist (p. 49 sqq.). 

§ 3. Catechize and Instruct as One who Possesses 
Knowledge oe Men 

(Compare herewith: The ways and methods of teaching, p. 
874 sqq.) 

For every educator and teacher the practical knowledge of 
souls and of men is indispensable. Psychology is and will always 
remain the foundation of pedagogy. The supernatural builds upon 
the natural, and the grace of God itself acts in conformity to 
psychology. 

Herewith we have already obtained a foundation for the fol- 
lowing methodic principles: 

(a) Instruct through the senses. Omnis cognitio incipit a sen- 
sibus. We here recall to mind all the events of those examinations 
and confirmations which we have established and carried out in 
the homiletics (p. 28 sqq., p. 81 sqq., also: The means of sacred 
eloquence). It may be justly said that the requirements of homi- 
letics for illustrations obtain in catechetics two and threefold. 
The child is much more dependent than the people on a suitable 
mediation and illustration, on the concrete. The catechist must 
therefore employ all power and talents to bring religion home to 
the children, and into their hearts through pictures, similes and 
examples, historical sketches and accidents, and through the 
causal mounting from the visible to the invisible, through the 
reflexion of religious principles into the concrete life of the chil- 
dren. (Compare Book IV of the Homiletic Studies.) 

The most important religious means of illustration is Bible His- 
tory. From this follows: 

(a) The importance of instruction in Bible History. 

(/3) The great advantage in adopting Bible history for the 
explanation of the catechetical questions. It should be often con- 
sidered what special part of Bible history might illustrate this or 
that question or emphasize it more and prepare it better. (Compare 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



771 



the " Katechismus und Bibelkonkordanz " in Knecht's "Kommentar 
zur bibl. Geschichte"; also Dr. Noser's arranged plans of the 
division of the teaching and material for the diocese of Chur. 
Folia qfficiosa Dioecesis Curiensis, 1896; Jungmann, Vol. II, p. 
779 sqq.) 

(y) The catechetic utility of ecclesiastical history and good 
biographies of saints. (Compare, f.i., the explanation of the cate- 
chetical questions on the properties of faith and possibly Hauler's 
legends for children, " Kindergarten und Bliiten aus dem Kinder- 
garten." A select catechetical use of Schmitt's and Kellner's 
" Exempelbiicher " is, in a guarded manner, to be recommended. 
But a very frequent critical examination of the historical material 
should not be overlooked in all the efforts of illustration. 

(b) Instruct the children in a popular manner ; adapted to children. 
With this matter compare the principles of homiletics on popular 
sermons, pp. 78-93. The serious and all-sided observance of this 
requirement creates a children's language. 

Excursus: the children's language. Upon the basis of our 
homiletic explanations (pp. 78-93), we desire to insert the following 
thoughts : 

(a) The language of children has no great supply of words. 
It is a stranger, especially, to abstract substantives and adjectives, 
and also to many verbs belonging to a higher language. For an 
abstract idea often a concrete effect is used, f.i., instead of saying, 
"to be malevolently disposed," it is better to say: "not to be able 
to look at some one through hatred and envy, not to answer him, 
not to be able to bear him, to begrudge him all things," etc. (Com- 
pare, f.i., the biblical description of Cain and Abel.) "Christ has 
atoned for our sins" — means in childish language: "Christ has 
paid for our sins with His blood." The following explanations may 
be added: Man could not make sin good. God alone could do 
this. But man had to make sin good. Then Christ came. As 
God He could make sin good. As man He would do it, etc. Now 
a short, richly colored description of the Passion of Christ might 
follow, in which might be shown all that Christ has paid for our 
sins to the very last drop of His blood. Finally these thoughts 
might be taken up: Much was to be made good; infinitely much 
was to be made good; Christ has done enough for all this; for He 
is God; He has done more than enough; He has accomplished 
uifmitely much. He has done satisfaction. In this way the ab- 



772 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



stract notion "to atone" is explained by well-known concrete 
means. 

(/8) Children's language loves the conception of parts. Therefore, 
a rich religious idea should be analyzed into many richly colored 
and attractive thoughts, and thus open, as it were, the sealed ves- 
sels and show the children what they contain. Thus, f.i., the 
concept of sanctifying grace may be made very easily clear to the 
children if it were shown them what a child possessed before bap- 
tism: body, soul, life for this world — original sin; and, in contrast 
thereto, what the child receives in baptism: something heavenly, 
something divine, — God gives us therein something of His own : 
heavenly beauty, heavenly holiness, heavenly justice, etc. God 
gives a second life, a life for heaven, a life for God, the beginning 
of life eternal. The child is now strong with heavenly strength 
against sin, against the devil, against all the powers of hell. The 
child is now heavenly strong, strong enough to think of eternity, 
to pray, to do all for eternity. The good God covers all over with 
gold for eternal happiness, etc. You must only co-operate; God 
will do the rest. These or similar series of thoughts should be 
described in simple sentences of beautiful language, interwoven 
with the one or other parable, in a popular exegesis of appropriate 
scriptural passages; ut vitam habeant et abundantius habeant. Si 
scires donum Dei — efficiamini divinae consortes naturae — trans- 
jormamur in imaginem Christi — eratis enini aliquando tenebrae, 
nunc autem lux in Domino — ego sum vitis, vos autem palmites — 
exhortamur vos, ne in vacuum gratiam Dei recipiatis — qui parce 
seminatj parce et metet; qui seminat in benedictionibus, de benedic- 
tionibus et metet. Thus the catechist will succeed in awakening the 
astonishment, the surmise, the intelligence, and the faith of the 
children. The child will now understand the catechist if he should 
say to it: no word of the catechism is more important than the 
word " Grace"; nothing is more necessary for life and death than 
grace; grace is the blossom, heaven the flower; he who possesses 
grace carries about with him the beginning of heaven, etc. Thus 
the wealth of the entire idea may be unfolded through the concept 
of the parts, in a manner similar to that in which the Saviour gradu- 
ally led the Samaritan woman to a full conception of grace and of 
religion. For a conclusion the idea of the parts should be collected, 
into a few principal conceptions, especially into those which are 
found in the questions of the catechism under explanation, and 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



773 



those points should be supplemented which the catechism gives in 
addition, and thus the whole partition is finally comprised in the 
catechetical answer. In our case they could be especially the ideas 
of justice, children of God, heirs of heaven, and with it the new 
idea of the catechism: sanctifying grace makes sinners — just; 
children of God and heirs of heaven. (See above, p. 89.) 

In many, aye, in the most cases the reverse way is recommended : 
they begin with the idea of the catechism and divide this into the 
component thoughts of the children's language. (See below, analy- 
sis and synthesis.) 

(y) The language of children loves the dramatic: i.e., persons 
acting and speaking should be introduced. The direct speech is 
much to be preferred to the indirect. Oftentimes the explanation 
of a dogma, of a fact, may be attributed to the participating per- 
sons, especially to the Saviour. Thus, f.i., the sacrifice of Christ 
on the cross could be explained according to the following scheme, 
which ought then to be more extensively considered: The Saviour 
is hanging on the cross. He is the perfect sacrifice of the New 
Law. He offers Himself on the cross to His heavenly Father — 
for us. . . . What does He do on the cross for us? He says to 
the heavenly Father: "Heavenly Father, look down upon the 
world. Look down upon the sins of men. The sins are terribly 
great. They are immensely grave, they cry to heaven: they pun- 
ish men, condemn many even to hell." But the Saviour continues: 

" Heavenly Father, look down upon Calvary. Look down upon 
Me. I am the Saviour, Christ Jesus. I am Thy beloved Son, in 
Whom Thou art well pleased. Thou hast said it." (Jordan- 
Thabor.) 

"Men must atone for sin. But, behold! I am become a man. 
I am the brother of men. I will take all their sins upon myself. 
I will suffer the terrible punishment for them." (Questions of the 
intellect.) But Jesus continues: "Heavenly Father, aye, look 
down upon Me. I am not mere man. I am God, I am the 
son of Son. I can atone for all, even for the infinite offense 
against Thee. 

"Behold My blood! behold My wounds! behold My suffer- 
ings without number ! They have pierced My hands and My feet ! 
They have counted all My bones! All this, all is for man!" And 
now listen to the final prayer of Jesus : 

"Heavenly Father, I am Thy beloved Son. For My sake, 



774 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



pardon men. Save them from hell. For My sake forgive them 
their guilt. I have paid the entire guilt of their sins with My 
blood. Through My blood give them baptism, good confessions, 
communions, a good life, a good death, etc., eternal happiness." 
(Questions of the intellect.) 

Thus Jesus prays and the heavenly Father says to Him: 

"I will hear Thy prayer. Thou art My beloved Son. I gaze 
upon Thy bloody countenance. For Thy sake am I reconciled. 
Because Thou didst die for men I will give them all Thou desirest." 

Thus spoke the Father and the Son. Men did not hear it. 
But they saw the blood and the Passion of Christ. 

And Jesus cried in a loud voice: "It is consummated, Father, 
into Thy hands I commend my spirit!" Then He bowed down 
His head and died. The sacrifice is completed. The divine wor- 
ship on Calvary's hill is finished. The world is redeemed. (Com- 
pare the verse of the psalm: A spice Deus et respice in f orient Christi 
tui.) In a similar manner to that of the sacrifice of the cross could 
the question concerning the sacrifice of the mass be explained. 

(S) The language of children is delightful, cordial, and direct. 
The language of children is learned and acquired through the 
observation of the talking of children and through the reading of 
well-composed catecheses and works for children (compare Mey's 
"Vollstandige Katechesen fur die untersten Klassen der Volks- 
schulen," Schmitt: "Katechismuserklarung," etc.; " Kinder schrif ten 
von Christof Schmid," Jais, Gruber, Wetzel), also through a great 
deal of exercise and a transposition from a higher style to the 
language of children. So much for the illustrated and popular 
instruction. 

We will add a final methodic requisite: 

(c) Instruct in a concentric manner. It is a great advantage if 
the methodic instruction is formed in concentric circles. Each circle 
offers the entire matter, adapted to a gradation by age. In the 
following grade the entire matter is emphasized. Thus everything 
is organically developed, like seeds. In this manner the very im- 
portant and attractive understanding of the whole is promoted. 
The child receives in each grade, pro modulo suo, the entire doc- 
trine necessary for salvation, and, in case of necessity, might easily 
be prepared for death, in keeping with its knowledge and educa- 
tion. Besides, owing to this method, the frequent change of the 
home of so many families acts less disturbingly. But not too many 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



775 



such circles should be formed. The higher the grade, the longer 
should be the time for the instruction of the circle. We generally 
distinguish: 

(a) A circle for the instruction of the smaller children, not yet 
able to read, or into whose hands the catechism has not yet been 
placed. To these the entire doctrine of religion is communicated 
in a childlike manner. (See particulars below.) 

(b) A circle for instruction in the little catechism, which con- 
tains a short sketch of the whole religious doctrine, and is f.i., cal- 
culated to cover two or three years. (Of course, much is here 
arranged according to the circumstances of country, and especially 
of the schools. With the little catechism a (smaller) Bible history 
should run parallel. The proper instruction for confession ought 
be a special instruction only for these catechumens). 

(c) A circle for the instruction of the higher classes for confes- 
sion and communion, or a circle for instruction in the larger cate- 
chism. (This circle extends also over several years, during which 
the matter of the larger catechism is treated. The children of this 
circle range generally from the years n, 12, to 14, 15; parallel to 
this is the higher Bible history. 

(d) A circle of instruction for the higher schools (secondary 
schools, eventually also lower gymnasia or colleges and business 
colleges that are independent; here all the independent matter 
for treatment is selected in view of the former grades. Compare 
the prefaces to the diocesan catechisms and plans of studies). 

(e) A circle of instruction for the Sunday school. (Particu- 
lars later.) This circle is subdivided into various grades or courses, 
of which the general plan of studies is arranged according to the 
diocesan statutes and the conditions of the schools. Thus, f.i., 
the circle of instruction for the larger catechism might be sub- 
divided into the third confession course as well as into the first, 
second, and third communion course. In an entire school the 
application of the plan of studies for the annual course is, of course, 
subject to various modifications, in view of the entire instruction 
of the several classes. Much also depends on the question whether 
the hours for religious instruction are inserted into the plan of 
studies of each school-class, or whether the catechist is merely 
allotted a definite time (day, hours, etc.) for all the catechumens. 
The first is, of course, to be much preferred. In general and under 
all circumstances the teacher of religion must demand that he be 



776 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



not compelled to impart Christian doctrine by piecemeal, but 
should go over the main contents of the whole catechism in the 
lower grade in one or two years, in the middle and higher grade 
at least every two, three to four years. 

For the correct completion of the concentric instruction atten- 
tion must be paid, furthermore: 

(a) to the gradation of age, of school-training, and of indi- 
viduality; 

(b) especially to thorough repetitions and recapitulations; 

(c) to a prudent measure not to make an end of the means. 
Grave circumstances and conditions, f.i., a large number of chil- 
dren, with little and an unfavorable time for teaching, often make 
the creation of but two concentric circles most advisable, of a very 
short first, and a more extended second circle. Otherwise the 
same matter is threshed out three times, but in a mere hasty, 
unpsychological, and insensible manner. 1 

Upon this methodic basis we are now much better prepared to 
treat a much mooted question: 

§ 4. Catechize According to Method. The Method and Way 

of Teaching 

From the psychological and well-planned application of the 
above main principles of the various fields of instruction, and 
especially of the difficult catechetical field of instruction, several 
certain pregnant and evolved methods of teaching and of instruc- 
tion have resulted, and these may also be called ways of teaching. 
The innumerable efforts and disputations on the methods and the 
teaching ways may be reduced to the following methodic prin- 
cipal view-points: to analysis, synthesis, the various psychological 
grades of instruction and education, to the "heuristic method and 
to the modern Munich method." It is of great importance that 
the catechist begin with a clear idea of the method he will use in 
the several catechetical questions and chapters. The young cate- 
chist, however, will do well to apply the one or the other method 
more prominently, for the purpose of gaining therein a certain 
skill. Young catechists, especially, should not instruct exclusively 
according to the ancient analytical method, but should rather 
make a fruitful use of the synthetical and of the Munich method. 

1 Compare Noser, Katechetik, 3 ed., p. 20 sqq. 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



777 



i. The analysis (called also the explanatory analysis). Analysis is 
a dissolution of a given idea, of a principle, of a catechetical thesis (cate- 
chetical question and answer), or of the matter of an opinion into its 
several parts and momentous points, in order to permit thereby, in a 
certain sense, its full contents and fruitfulness for faith and life to become 
effective. (Compare pp. 772, 774, p.y.%.) However, this should not be 
done in a humdrum, tedious, and purely philological and mechanical 
manner. The analysis must become a clear, joyous, and vivid develop- 
ment and illustration of the concepts, and develop itself into a super- 
natural school of life and of conscience. (Compare above the chapter 
on: Means of sacred eloquence, pp. 512-657; compare also p. 146 sqq., pp. 
81-91.) During the discussion which the extremely salutary recent 
catechetical movement called forth, the idea of analysis was not always 
considered in the same sense, and this led to great misconceptions. The 
eminent pedagogue and philosopher Dr. Otto Willmann proposed, there- 
fore, at the catechetical course at Salzburg, to use likewise in catechetics 
the ideas of analysis and synthesis as the new-scholastic philosophy, 
based upon Aristotle, had formed them. Analysis, then, would not be 
a dissolution of the whole into its parts, but a taking out or scraping 
out of the essence, of the concept from the manifestation, of the gen- 
eral from the particular. This would result pretty much in the same as 
that which was formerly called synthesis. Synthesis, however, accord- 
ing to the Aristotelian logic, is a composition, not of the whole from its 
parts, but an addition of particular modifications to a general concept, 
an eVolving of the idea. 

In order not to increase the confusion we will adhere to the ancient 
pedagogic concept of ideas. By analysis we understand the illustrating, 
confirming, emphasizing, and applying solution of the word of the cate- 
chism. By many this method is called the explanatory analysis. In 
all methods the catechist must be ever mindful that he teaches super- 
natural truth, that he cannot develop the entire truth of the Catholic 
religion from pure reason. 

The analytical method is very advisable in cases wherein ideas and 
principles are to be delivered as joyful messages, coming from God, in 
order to make them useful and effective, in all their momentous points 
and irradiations for faith and life. Thus the catechist may act, f.i., 
whenever he wishes to explain sanctifying grace to the children. He 
should begin with the catechetical sentence, (compare above, pp. 792, 
793 sqq.) , which he should communicate to them orally, slowly, clearly, 
verbatim, and respectfully. Then he should begin to reveal the deep- 
meaning idea, like a sealed precious vase, and to develop and arrange all 
its contents before the eyes of the children. This is catechetical analysis. 
Thus the catechist will succeed in dissolving the just mentioned super- 



778 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



natural idea of sanctifying grace to the children analytically in all its 
parts, in all its rays and glory, f .i. : grace is a second life which emanates 
from God. (John, c. 3.) The catechist should then depict the soul of 
the child before and after baptism: grace is the heavenly likeness of God. 
God is beautiful, infinitely beautiful: He gives us something of His 
beauty. This is grace. God is holy, infinitely holy; He gives us some- 
thing of His holiness, etc. The solar rays of holiness come into the heart 
of the child in holy baptism. Thereby it becomes holy. This is grace 
that makes us holy, sanctifying grace. Appropriate and striking scriptural 
passages should be interwoven into these explanations, pictures taken 
from Holy Scripture, such as the children of the respective grade may 
comprehend. Sanctifying grace is a relationship with God; through 
grace we are no longer enemies of God, but the friends of God; sons of 
God, children of God, brothers of Christ, co-heirs with Christ, etc. The 
catechist should illumine such an analysis by striking sketches taken 
from Holy Scripture, especially from the life of Jesus. He should show, 
f.i., how, through sanctifying grace, something similar occurs to that 
which occurred at the baptism of Christ. Heaven is opened for and 
above us. The Holy Ghost descends upon and into us. The Father 
of Heaven announces: These are my beloved children, in whom I am 
well pleased. At the end of such an analysis all should be brought to a 
focus. Then a short and striking admonition should be added — never 
in life to lose sanctifying grace through mortal sin, never to banish the 
Holy Ghost from the heart. The catechist, finally, should return to 
the question of the catechism, from which he began and which he had 
dissected into all its parts and glories. (Compare pp. 90 and 772, 
773-) 

In difficult, fundamental questions much often depends upon a good 
analysis, dissecting all by clear, simple, intelligent particulars and 
sentences. 

Let us, f.i., suppose the case, that to the question: What is faith? 
the catechism were to give the following answer: Faith means to hold 
everything as certain and true whatever God has revealed and proposes 
by His Church for our belief. The catechist then dissolves the whole 
in his explanation into a series of deep sentences of questions, which he 
will explain clearly and attractively to the exclusion of all that does not 
belong to the question. 1. What means faith? Faith (in the religious 
sense) means to hold something as certain and true. I maintain some- 
thing as certain and true, when I think that it is most certainly so, from 
which nothing can make me deviate. Thus, f.i., we think that it is 
most certain that Jesus dwells in the tabernacle. And if a Protestant 
were to come and to say: this is not so, we would not permit ourselves 
to deviate from this for anything in the world. 2. What do we hold 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



779 



as certain and true? We hold as certain and true whatever God Him- 
self has said. God is truth. God cannot lie. If God says anything 
then it is so. (Farther the catechist should not proceed into the motive 
of faith, since probably another question treats of it ex professo.) Behold 
the Saviour, Christ Jesus is God. And He delivered, once upon a time, 
a remarkable sermon in the city of Capharnaum on the Living Bread, 
on the sacrament of the Altar. Then He said very positively that He 
desired to live amongst us and to enter our souls under the form of bread. 
Therefore we hold this to be certain and true. Therefore we believe 
that Jesus comes down in consecration upon the altar and that He Him- 
self dwells in the tabernacle, etc. (Excite the spirit and the affection 
of a sincere and joyful faith by striking words.) 3. But who tells us 
the words of God? Not every one of us can hear God speak in a solemn 
manner. Who puts the words of God like a light before us? A figure of 
the child that at evening would like to read and learn the Bible. But 
it has already grown dark. Then the mother comes and places a light, 
the lamp upon the table, etc. Who puts the word of God, that which 
God speaks, like a light before us? The Church. What is the Church? 
(The catechist should guard here against giving a difficult and extensive 
explanation of the idea or of drawing into this questions on the ninth 
article of the creed not yet treated. He knows full well that there is 
question here merely about the teaching Church. Everything else will 
be later explained.) What is the Church? Is it the church made of 
stone and of wood, the church with a tower? That cannot speak. Dear 
children, you will later understand much better what the Church is. 
For today, listen, and understand this much: The Church here means 
the Pope, the bishops, and all the priests who follow the Pope and the 
bishops. (Homiletic questions on things known through parental 
instruction or at school in a most possible concrete form.) Now see, the 
Pope, the bishops, the pastor, the priests point out to us the word of 
God, the word that God has spoken. They place it like a light before 
us. Then we know what we must believe. The good God helps the 
Pope to teach us the right faith. The good Saviour has promised this 
most certainly. (This should not be considered any more closely here, 
because later questions will treat ex professo thereof.) The Holy Ghost 
enlightens the bishops, directs and guides the priests who follow the 
Pope, etc. Now the catechist puts these separate parts together, first 
gradually, with all kinds of questions for the memory and the intelli- 
gence of the children, promoting their work, until the sound of the words 
of the question of the catechism is repeated. As a change supplements, 
according to the following method, may be added. 

Now open the catechism. All read the answer. What word have I 
not explained? Who knows it? "Revealed." Example: Possibly 



780 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



you wish to enter the church on a free day, f.i., on Saturday. It is 
closed. The sacristan has just decorated and ornamented the church 
richly. Therefore it was closed. Later he opens the church. Then 
you enter. You are surprised. You find it so very beautiful. It is 
now revealed or shown what was in the church. Just so does the good 
God. He not only opens His church, He opens, as it were, His heaven. 
When God speaks to us, He shows us, in a measure, what there is in 
heaven. He opens heaven. He reveals to us something divine, some- 
thing heavenly, in as far as we are able to receive it into our souls on 
earth. (Compare: Fides est sperandarum rerum substantia — viroa-ra^ 
— a placing before the eyes things of the future — argumentum non 
apparentium — a conviction, a holding for certain and true things that 
we cannot see with our reason. Compare also our remarks on Holy 
Saturday p. 419 sqq., and on the Sundays after Easter, p. 448 sqq.) 
Now all things are again collected around the question of the catechism. 
Do not assert that such explanations are too broad. Not every question 
need be equally extended. The questions should not merely be counted 
but also weighed. If, in general, two or three or three to five questions 
are to be rightly considered every hour, then several simple questions 
might be allotted to one hour, but, from time to time, only one single 
central question is treated in one hour. Besides, by such analysis of the 
main question the pupils will learn their catechetical answers in that 
hour. The repetition will thus become very short — with a large number 
of children such an analysis must be very often interrupted by questions. 
To combine with the proposed analysis an exhortation is scarcely neces- 
sary. Other questions that will soon follow are better adapted for this. 
If, moreover, the catechist follows these proposed ways lovingly and 
respectfully, then a certain edification will follow without the least effort. 
The analysis, however, should never degenerate into a mere grammatical 
talk. If an example is to be combined therewith, then the confession 
of Peter, at the close of the catechesis at Capharnaum, might be fruit- 
fully formed into a supernatural psychological fire-test for an illustra- 
tion of the answers of the catechism and for its explanation, likewise 
scenes and answers from the Acta Martyrum, etc. (Compare our 
Homiletic Supplement: Katechetisches iiber den Glauben.) 

2. The synthesis. The synthesis or the synthetic method gathers 
and searches for the children parts already known, and sketches or 
communicates these to them in fresh colors in order to continue to build 
precisely upon these momentous points, and it follows them lovingly, 
puts them together, adds new ones, and thus finally gains, in a vivid 
and interesting manner, the whole, the answer of the catechism, which — 
at the end of the catechesis — drops, already explained, into the souls 
of the children like ripe fruit. Compared, therefore, with the analysis 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



781 



it is the inverted way — from the parts to the whole, from the several 
momentous points to the general conception. 

It is true, of course, that our holy religion is supernatural. It can- 
not be ascertained and compounded through operations of the intellect. 
But the supernatural builds upon the natural. Natural religious truths 
may be developed. Aye more, many supernatural truths, precepts, and 
religious facts are already well known to the children, either through 
parental instruction or through earlier and parallel education. The 
most doctrines and precepts of faith may, finally, be developed through 
facts of revelation, constructed and unfolded. (Compare pp. 96-100, 
§§3,4 and p. 103 sqq.) They are often parts, directions, and momentous 
points which lead to a new conception, to new principles and grand 
general conceptions. 

The catechist will pursue, to great advantage, the synthetic way, if 
the catechetical question rests upon a fact of the life of Christ, or pre- 
sents something which was a gradual creation of Christ during His life. 
Not infrequently did Christ Himself teach and act in a synthetic manner; 
He unfolded conceptions and principles gradually with a well-planned 
wisdom and love, and whatever He founded and established He not 
infrequently completed according to the same method. We need, 
therefore, only to follow His footsteps, and thus gain "the gem of all 
methods" — the genetic synthesis. 

Thus the doctrine concerning the Church is splendidly adapted for 
a synthetic treatment. Imagine, f.i., the following gradual train of 
thoughts: Christ, at His appearance, gathered disciples. He selected 
Apostles. He educates and installs the first Pope. At His ascension 
He leaves behind a society, a Church under the shepherd of the lambs 
and the sheep. To this society, to this Church, He sends the Holy Ghost. 
The Apostles go forth into the world and establish congregations. The 
congregations are combined and united among themselves. They are 
placed under Peter. They are placed under the successors of Peter, 
etc. From this the definition of the Church is gradually developed. 
The whole is living, interesting, and to be shaped in close connection 
with Holy Scripture. (Compare f.i., p. 141 sqq., p. 448. Theme D.) 
Instead, therefore, of placing a heavy definition of the Church at the be- 
ginning and then dissecting it (by analysis), the several parts of the 
Church are brought together, her creation and growth are searched, she 
is, as it were, permitted to originate before the eyes of the children, and 
then, finally, all is put together for a general conception of the Church. 
(Synthesis.) Should the catechist find in the catechism the definition of 
the Church to be the first question, then he ought not begin with the 
presentation of the question. He should rather construct the above 
merely indicated development in a lively manner, proceeding step by 



782 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



step, clearly and securely. By this process the catechist will naturally 
prepare the elements of the later questions, and thus create an interest 
for the same. Only at the end should he gather all into the answer of 
the catechism, which now appears as the final fruit of the entire instruc- 
tion. (Compare pp. 794, 795 on the Sacrament of the Altar.) 

Synthesis may be connected with real things or with mere ideas. 
Therefore we distinguish between real and logical syntheses. 

Because the synthetic method shows more the origin and the creation 
of the teaching matter, therefore, there is also mention made of a genetic 
way of teaching. 

Real instruction combines all these ways of teaching. It is now 
analytic-synthetic, then synthetic-analytic, sometimes it selects the 
deduction of analysis, then the induction of synthesis. 

3. The heuristic form of teaching. The synthetic way of teaching often 
prefers the heuristic way which directs the children to find the results 
themselves, f.i., or develops them with the children. A purely heuristic- 
socratic method is not suitable for Catholic instruction in religion. The 
supernatural cannot be developed from the natural. But the heuristic 
method of teaching may be splendidly utilized here and there, whenever 
conceptions, principles, and conclusions are to be developed from natural 
truths or from well-known supernatural truths or facts. Splendid ex- 
amples of this are found in the Gospels. 

4. The Herbart-Ziller method. From the already mentioned points 
of view some very important points of truth of the Herbart-Ziller method 
might be profitably utilized, even though we most emphatically reject 
certain rationalistic main principles of this pedagogic system. Herbart 
and Ziller distinguish for the activity of the teacher: 

1. the analysis which investigates, arranges, and rectifies the already 
supplied notional material for the scholars; 2. the synthesis which pro- 
poses and presents new matter in detail; 3. the association which com- 
pares and combines the new with that already known; 4. the system 
which deducts the general, the concept, the rule, and creates a system- 
atic order; 5. the method which adjusts the acquired knowledge 
to life. 

The material for thought, proposed by Herbart and Ziller for in- 
struction in the various grades, are pedagogic important points which 
become partly very effective, in a certain higher sense, in properly im- 
parted biblical instruction. Holy Scripture shows us the history of 
religion directed by God in the various grades of the culture of humanity. 
(Compare our thoughts expressed hereon, p. 104 sqq.) These " materials 
of ideas of the Bible" are in a very unique manner also adapted to the 
various ages of the children. 

5. The so-called Munich method, developed in recent times under 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



783 



the direction of the catechists of Munich, is the psychological synthesis 
of uniform matter for each hour, from the development of which result 
several catechetical questions and answers, already explained, which 
are then plucked like a ripe fruit. There first precedes a declaration of 
aim, very brief, then follows a preparation, which hurriedly repeats or 
transmits what preceded, then a presentation of the matter for the hour 
in a biblical or ecclesiastical historical narrative or some other illustra- 
tion, next the explanation is added, which emphasizes the substantial 
and the comprehensible of the matter clearly and freshly colored, in 
view of the series of questions of the catechism which are to be treated. 
The catechist should then connect the whole, but in this connection the 
catechetical questions should especially be emphasized. Finally, the 
practical central applications follow as a supernatural school of conscience. 
We recommend the study of this method especially as laid down in the 
catecheses of Heinrich Stieglitz, city pastor of Munich, Weber, and 
others. (Kemp ten, Kosel, 1903 ff.) This method, with a good prepara- 
tion, is calculated to do great service, provided certain questions, or a 
series of questions (3-7) , of a strictly uniform treatment and synthetic 
development from historical material, pertaining to supernatural revela- 
tion or to ecclesiastical history, be suitable for the purpose. An exclusive 
application of the method, according to our notion, leads occasionally 
to certain mannerisms and to obscurities. On the principles concerning 
synthesis and heuretics, in the sphere of the supernatural, consult our 
notes, p. 780 sqq., also our explanations of synthesis. The Munich 
method is a genetic synthesis or a " developed analysis" built on psy- 
chological grades of instruction and education. In the first volume of 
our supplementary work on Homiletics, which is soon to appear, i.e., 
in its catechetic parts, f.i., in the chapter: Cathechesis on Faith, we have 
expressed ourselves fully on these methods and illustrated our exposition 
by examples and sketches. Compare Dr. A. Weber: Die Munchener 
Methode, Munchen and Kempten, Kosel, 1905, also: Der Munchener 
Katechetische Kurs, 1905, von Dr. J. Gottler, p. 165, "Die Munchener 
Methode" von H. Stieglitz, Kosel, Kempten and Munich, 1906. See 
also p. 784, n. 2. 



7 8 4 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



II. SPECIAL PART OF CA TE CHE TICS 

We will here treat of: 

1. The instruction and the education of the smaller children. 

2. The instruction and the education of children for confession 
and communion. 

3. The instruction and the education of the advanced youth. 

CHAPTER I 

THE INSTRUCTION AND THE EDUCATION OF THE SMALLER 

CHILDREN 

§ i. The Smallest Catechumens 

The catechist must also be solicitous about the religious life 
of the lowest classes of the school, even before the children are 
taught to read and before a catechism is placed into their hands. 
Otherwise the first and the most beautiful blossoms of religion 
and devotion will not unfold. The catechist is the chosen messen- 
ger of God also for the youngest. 

Whenever, on account of circumstances, the teacher alone 
attends to this first labor, there the catechist must not fail to 
appear and to act, from time to time at least, in the school. 

§ 2. The Catechesis of the Smallest Children 

Even for the instruction of the smallest children, of those who 
cannot read, or, at least, not sufficiently well, a certain method 
might be devised and practically applied. This instruction should 
extend to all the children into whose hands the catechism has not 
yet been placed. The duration of time fluctuates between one- 
quarter, one-half, to one and two years and beyond. The ideal 
is a systematic instruction, without catechism, for a whole year 
according to the method of Mey, to which afterwards the real 
catechetical instruction is affixed. Mey speaks of a two to three 
years' course without catechism, which is afterwards succeeded by 
a six-year catechetical and biblical instruction. We will comprise 
our methodic direction briefly within the following points : 

1. A general view. In this first grade a more historic method 
is advisable in connection with separate catechetical elements. 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



785 



The Bible history, connected with the symbol of faith, the Deca- 
logue, and the "Our Father," form the uniformly arranged matter. 
This, however, should lean as much as possible on the ecclesias- 
tical year. Begin, f.i., with the Old Testament. (The creation 
of the world, the first man, the flood, etc.) This, at the same 
time, corresponds with the first article of the creed. God appears 
herein as the creator and the law-giver. The Ten Commandments 
are explained in the history of the legislation on Sinai, possibly in 
two hours. In connection herewith, if time permits, instructions 
may be given on morning and night prayers, on conduct in the 
church, etc. (Compare the following paragraphs.) Then the New 
Testament should follow in connection with the second to the 
twelfth article of the Creed. The most important events in the life 
of Jesus follow, especially those mentioned in the articles of the 
Creed. The "Our Father," and, if in the treatment of the Old Tes- 
tament no time was left, also the Ten Commandments of God may 
be inserted into the teaching activity of Christ. In connection with 
Pentecost and the ninth article of the Creed the Church is treated. 
The most important sacraments are to be inserted into the treat- 
ment of the life of Jesus, and the rest are to be very briefly consid- 
ered. The whole instruction should conclude, like the Creed, with 
a view into eternity. It might, therefore, be said that the instruc- 
tion of the smallest children is (according to its contents) a historic- 
dogmatic explanation of the Creed. An excellent model for this 
is found in Mey's " Vollstandige Katechesen fur die untersten 
Klassen der Volksschule" — already quoted. It must be noted, 
however, that Mey calculated his catechesis for a two to three 
years' course, to which the large catechism immediately follows. 
We know no book of catechetical literature which will be to the 
incipient catechist of such precious service as this. Even where 
this instruction of the smallest children comprises only a very short 
time, the really classical remarks of Mey on the several catechetical 
themes and also several of the finished catecheses will afford the 
catechist, also of the middle and higher grade, aye, even to the 
preacher, a very rich stimulation. The instruction comprises, in 
a childlike manner, the whole compass of religion. 

2. The single catechesis. Every catechesis forms for itself a 
unity, — calculated for one hour. (Compare the examples of Mey.) 
At the end 1 of each historical paragraph or chapter of thought the 
1 Begin by no means at the question. 



786 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



catechist should compress the main thought into a childlike and 
plain memory-question, which should then be rehearsed by the class 
itself in chorus and by repetitions. (Compare the excellent ques- 
tions given by Mey.) Questions and answers must, of course, be 
constantly repeated in the same form. Oftentimes, also, answers of 
the little catechism, which however, the children should not yet 
have in hand, may be very happily utilized. The children are thus 
surprised later in a gleeful manner, when they find in the little cate- 
chism a whole series of questions which form already their small 
intellectual property. The children are occasionally profitably 
reminded that later they will receive a book, wherein much of 
that which they now learn, and still greater and more beautiful 
things, are contained. Thus the catechism will be awaited with 
great anxious curiosity, whereas a too early use would stamp it as 
a book to be hated. In fact, the whole instruction should be so 
arranged that the new catechism of the respective grade may be 
hailed with great joy. 

§ 3. The Children's Prayer 

As the disciples spoke to the Saviour — so speaks youth, fav- 
ored by baptism, to the catechist: " Teach us to pray!" The 
practical induction into prayer is the most important task of the 
catechist with the smallest children. The school of prayer of 
the catechist comprises the following activity: 

(a) The catechist should endeavor to find out how far the 
parental home has prepared the work. 

(b) He should gradually and securely exercise with the children 
the most important formulas of prayer, and therewith purify the 
exterior of the prayers of the children from abuses that might 
possibly have crept in, such as the mutilation of the words of prayer, 
and such like. (This should also be done, from time to time, in 
the higher classes.) 

(c) But not mere mechanical drilling should be the aim. The 
catechist should rather fill, by his instruction and especially occa- 
sionally in the incidental childlike explanations of the formulas, 
the souls of the children with lively thoughts of God and draw 
them into a confidential intercourse with Jesus. Even children, 
as the Saviour desires, should be adorers of the Father in spirit 
and in truth. 

(d) The example of the catechist himself is most decisive. His 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 787 

devotion and recollection at prayer, especially the noble, dignified, 
and not affected tone in the pronunciation of the words of prayer, 
act in a most remarkable beneficial manner. The catechist should 
never permit negligent, hasty, nor screaming prayers by the children. 

§ 4. The Induction of the Smallest Children into 

the Mass 

Dogmatic, moral, and pastoral theology teach that the mass is 
the center of Christian worship and life. To Jesus in holy mass 
and in the sacrament of the altar we must guide the youth as early 
as possible. The words of the Psalmist and the Apostle are espe- 
cially applicable to the catechist and to his hosts of children: Acce- 
dite ad eum et illuminamini. (Ps. 33 : 6.) Adeamus ergo cum 
fiducia ad thronum gratiae. (Heb. 4: 16.) There is a threefold 
degree of mass devotion. The first comprises, very plainly, a few 
important points, and very quickly also the most important. The 
second recognizes, in great outlines, the connection of the parts 
and the ceremonies of the mass, and finds therein nourishment for 
this devotion. The third degree emphasizes the first and the 
second, and attempts a very close connection with the celebrating 
priest and a deep penetration into the sacrificial celebration and 
thoughts themselves. 

1. The first degree of devotion at mass. 

(a) The first induction into mass is, in a certain sense, a religious 
instruction by illustration. The children should be accustomed to 
look piously upon the altar. Even this is a worship. The sacred, 
blessed, and symbolic objects of the Church should be made preach- 
ers, as it were, of attention for the children, and the first catechiza- 
tion on church and mass should be connected therewith, f.i., with 
the holy water, the altar, the tabernacle, the sanctuary lamp, etc. 
Then just a few striking parts of the mass or ceremonies should be 
selected and explained in a childlike manner, and the attention of 
the children directed thereto, f.i., the Confiteor, the Sanctus with 
the ringing of the bell, Consecration with the ringing of the bell, 
and Communion with the same. 

(b) The first induction into the holy mass should present to 
the children the doctrine of the real presence of Jesus in the sacra- 
ment of the altar, and especially at consecration. The children 
should be taught, in the very beginning, that the Saviour comes 
down upon the altar in consecration and dwells in the tabernacle. 



788 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Herewith the sacrificial thought of the mass might be very gently 
and anxiously indicated to some advantage. The catechist might 
proceed herein, f.i., from the mystery of Christmas, and present 
the going to mass as the going of the shepherds to the crib, etc. 

(c) The doctrine of the real coming of Jesus becomes thus a 
foundation for the direction and the accustoming of the children 
to a respectful conduct in the church. (Touching exhortations — 
a consequential supervision — preventive methods — looking to- 
ward the altar — a suitable place for the children in church — very 
exact order in entering and leaving the church to be observed by 
the children.) 

(d) The religious instruction will always afford an occasion to 
return, here and there, to the holy mass and. to the sacrament of 
the altar. Whenever the catechist depicts for the children the 
person and the labors of Jesus in general or in particular, he should 
return to the just mentioned relations with the thought that the 
same Saviour is now present in consecration, and that He dwells 
in the tabernacle. 

(e) The children should be taught very early short prayers for 
assisting at the most important parts of the mass, f.i., a simple 
form of perfect contrition for the beginning; the popular prayer: 
"Jesus, I am thine in life and in death, etc.," for both elevations in 
consecration; a simple prayer for spiritual communion, f.i., "Oh, 
My Jesus, I believe in Thee. Oh, my Jesus, I hope in Thee. Oh, 
My Jesus, out of love for Thee I deplore all my sins! Come, 
oh, Jesus, come to me, behold, my heart longs for Thee." 

All this should be gradually taught. In the meantime the 
children are directed to gaze piously upon the altar, or again to 
pray whatever they may know. 

(/) All which has thus far been treated may be collected, to 
great advantage, so that the children may thus acquire, in a measure, 
an idea of the sacrifice of the mass. But the admonition of the 
Apostle should not be forgotten: "I gave you milk, not solid food, 
for you could not yet bear it." (I Cor. 3: 2. Cf. Mey, "Mess- 
biichlein fur fromme Kinder. Ausg. fur Katecheten.") 

2. The second degree of mass devotion. (Preparation for the 
same.) 

Thus the catechist prepares the way for the second step of 
devotion for mass. For the brighter children he might here adopt 
the following: the Kyrie: the world without Jesus; the gloria: 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



789 



Jesus the child; the Gospel: Jesus the teacher; the offertory: 
Jesus the victim during His whole life; the consecration: Jesus 
crucified, the sacrifice of the cross; communion: Jesus risen; the 
last blessing: the last blessing of Jesus at the Ascension, and on 
the last day pronounced over the just: Venite benedicti. 

CHAPTER II 

THE INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATION OF CHILDREN FOR 
CONFESSION AND COMMUNION 

We use the expression of children for confession and communion 
in the wider sense, for all the children who still attend the parochial 
school and who besides the instruction for confession and com- 
munion receive likewise the regular scholastic course of religious 
instruction. 

The general methodic foundation and also the practical rules 
resulting therefrom we have already treated in the first part of 
our catechetics. There still remain for our consideration — the 
most important practical sides of the catechetical office, in relation 
to the youth of this graded age. We designate here this catechetical 
instruction as the basis of religious training and education — the 
biblical instruction as the preparation, the completion, the perfec- 
tion, and the illustration. For the universal education several 
specially important preparations are added, to which the catechist 
should apply the greatest care, to wit: the instruction for the 
first confession and also the instruction and education for the first 
communicants. As a supplement to the various sides of catechet- 
ical activity we will add a consideration of the introduction of the 
children to the liturgy of the Church. All is governed by the 
thought of the aim of pastoral care. According to this the chapter 
on instruction and the education of children for confession and 
communion is divided into various articles. 

Article i. Religious Instruction and Education on the Basis of 

the Catechism 

§ 1. The Catechism 

The catechism is not a product of modern days. The real 
substance of the present catechism : the symbol of faith, the Deca- 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



logue, the sacraments, the a Our Father" — existed from most 
ancient times as the basis of the instruction of the catechumens. 
According to a historic-pragmatic introduction into the history of 
revelation (!) (compare the so-called mission-catecheses of St. 
Augustin, as an introduction to his plan of instructions, which he 
proposes in his work: Be catechizandis rudibus) the instruction of 
the neo-catechumens, and especially of the approved candidates 
for baptism and also the mystagogic catecheses which immediately 
preceded and partly also followed baptism, these were a constantly 
nearer, clearer, and deeper and more extensive introduction into 
the symbol of faith, the Decalogue, the sacraments, and the "Our 
Father." These formularies were regarded as a certain summary 
of the universal religious truths. Parallel, however, to this there 
ran an instruction constructed upon the scriptural lessons of the 
liturgy — given at the same time to the whole congregation. (The 
catechumen mass; compare our remarks on this subject for Lent, 
p. 253, n. 10; pp. 256-457 ; compare also the entire liturgic-homiletic 
plan for Eastertide, pp. 506-510.) 

On this basis the catechism developed itself into various forms 
during the entire middle age. We refer here to the many cate- 
chism-like writings of the middle age, to the arrangement of the 
catechetical matter by great theologians, f.i., in the catechetical 
opuscula of St. Thomas and of St. Bonaventure, to the fixing of 
the catechetical matter by bishops, by diocesan synods and statutes, 
f.i., of Utrecht, 1294-13 10, Mayence, 13 10; Toledo, 1333; Lavour, 
1368. "We have concluded to communicate, briefly and clearly, 
a sort of a scientific system and summary of those things in which 
we desire the people in our charge to be instructed, so that thereby 
the pastor and the superintendent may obtain a ground-plan and 
a rule for instruction." 1 The times of the revolt against faith — 
pressed by the dangers to faith, and by the crying necessities and 
stimulated by great pedagogues, saints and new religious orders, 
but especially also by the reform-decrees of the Council of Trent 
— brought a real harvest-time of catechetical literature. We refer 
to the catechism of St. Francis Xavier (1 544) and especially to the cat- 
echisms of Blessed Peter Canisius of 1554; to the Summa doctrinae 
Christianae, or the catechismus major, the institutiones Christianae, 

1 Compare Janssen: History of the German people. 1 vol.; Michael: Geschichte 
des deut. Volkes; also the exceUent pedagogic library of Herder, also Kunz-Pott- 
mann, Katechese des HI. Thomas von Aquin, Luzerne, Raeder, 1889. 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



791 



the edition of a Parous Catechismus: small catechism for the com- 
mon laity and the small children (1593), the catechism of Bellar- 
min, etc. The celebrated Catechismus Romanus ad Parochos — 
instigated at the Council of Trent by Charles Borromaeus, con- 
tinued by most eminent theologians under Pius V, and finished in 
1566 — contains an excellent method in regard to the matter and 
the treatment for catechists and homilists. It is composed of four 
principal parts: On faith, on the sacraments, on prayer, on the 
precepts, and follows closely the formularies of the symbol of 
faith, of the sacraments, of the "Our Father," and of the deca- 
logue. Among those of more recent times we will mention the 
catechism of Felbiger (d. 1788), of Overberg (1 754-1826), of JEgi- 
dius Jais (1750-1822); Joh. Bapt. Hirscher (d. 1865); Alban Stolz; 
Deharbe (many widely spread catechisms), also many more recent 
diocesan catechisms, f.i., of Rottenburg, Mayence, Cologne, Basel, 
etc. Many of the diocesan catechisms are constructed on the 
Deharbe system. Several dioceses have adopted the Deharbe 
catechism. In many dioceses the catechism of Rottenburg is 
being adopted. In recent times an effort has been made to effect 
a harmonized combination of analysis and synthesis, of a genetic 
and demonstrative presentation, and also to combine ecclesiastical 
correctness, united with practical exactitude, with a certain unction 
of biblical and liturgical spirit. 

In more recent times a conflict arose concerning the division 
of the catechism. Deharbe, S.J., preferred a systematic division: 
faith, the Commandments, the means of grace. Jungmann, S.J., 
rejected the systematic arrangement, and defended the exegetic 
adhesion to the catechetical formularies, i.e., to the biblic-ecclesi- 
astical original (Stamm) catechism. This means the four following 
formularies: the symbol of faith, the Decalogue, the "Our Father," 
the sacraments. This division was also proclaimed by the Cate- 
chismus Romanus. (See Jungmann, "Theorie der geistl. Bered- 
samkeit," II, p. 789 sqq., n. 33 sqq.) Opposed to him is J. Linden, 
S.J. (Beilage zu den katechetischen Blattern, redigiert von Dr. 
Weber, Miinchen, Kosel, Kempten, Jahrgang, 1902, Mai — Juli. 
Compare also the Linzer Quartalschrift, 1902, p. 500 sqq. Fur- 
thermore Valerian: "Neue Wege im Religionsunterricht, Wiirz- 
burg, Bucher, 1902, 1903; Die Analyse und Synthese im Reli- 
gionsunterricht von Joh. Scholasticus, Wurzburg, 1902, etc., and 
compare above: analysis and synthesis.) 



7Q2 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



In France the catechisms of the school-brothers are to be very 
much emphasized, also the catechism of Bossuet, which had become 
the model for many diocesan catechisms, the catechisms of Bouge, 
Fleury, and many more recent diocesan catechisms. 

From this historical review it follows sufficiently that the entire 
tradition of the Church is in favor of our present catechism. There- 
fore, the question whether or not a catechism should be a " guid- 
ance for religious instruction" was long ago decided by custom in 
favor of the catechism. 

§ 2. The Teaching and the Learning Activity in 
Catechetical Instruction 

The general methodic principles for religious instruction have 
already been considered by us: they are applicable also here. It 
now remains for us briefly to describe the peculiar teaching activity 
of the catechist in the catechetical instruction. We mention: 

(a) The recitation of the text of the catechism. 

(b) The explanation. 

(c) The catechetical argumentation, besides the catechetical 
refutation and defense. 

(d) The practical application to life. 

Herewith the learning activity of the children is connected: 

(a) The reception of the truth. 

(b) The imprinting of the religious truth. 

(c) The living up to the religious truth. 

All this we will briefly consider in the following paragraphs. 

§ 3. The Recitation of the Catechetical Text 

The catechism is the substance and the rule for the guidance 
of religious instruction. The catechist ought therefore be directed 
by the catechism and not sail at will. The Church proposes the 
catechism: ecclesia locuta causa finita. Herewith, of course, fruitful 
proposals for an amelioration for the revision and the reform of 
the catechism may constantly be made. Tradition and pedagogic 
progress should herein co-operate. The introduction of a cate- 
chism, however, is purely matter for the Ordinary to decide. The 
catechist ought, therefore, plainly read the catechetical text, and 
for a change, especially in the higher classes, have it read. It is, 
however, more advisable that the catechist himself, as the mes- 
senger of God, the witness of Jesus Christ and the preacher of the 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



793 



Gospel, should orally recite question and answer of the catechism 
or simply the doctrinal proposition. Fides ex auditu. (Rom. i o : 17.) 
Thus, in view of the recitation this order would follow : 

(a) The recitation of the question and (or) answer by the 
catechist. 

(b) The explanation, the application, etc. 

(c) The reading of the question by several children or the 
recitation by all together. 

The books of the children should remain closed until the proper 
reading of the questions and answers. 

Some catechists are in favor of keeping the books open during 
the teaching activity of the catechist. This might possibly be 
admitted in certain circumstances, during the explanation by the 
catechist, in a more limited sense, for a lower class that is not too 
numerous. But since explanation, argumentations, and applica- 
tions are often dove-tailed, and the attention is easily drawn away 
through the open books from the recitation by the catechist, there- 
fore we are opposed to this opinion. 

But we by no means wish to say that exceptionally — possibly 
under linguistic difficulties and longer catechetical questions — pre- 
cisely this method — with the active co-operation of the children 
— is to be preferred. 

The mere manner and sort of recitation of the catechetical text 
should arouse in the children the consciousness that they are receiv- 
ing the truth from the Church, and that they, by no means, find it 
themselves. Compare, above: The synthetic method, which re- 
cites the text of the catechism at the end, p. 780 sqq., also the 
Munich method. 

§ 4. The Explanation 

We refer here principally to our explanations of the means of 
sacred eloquence (p. 514 sqq.). What was there explained holds 
good also mutatis mutandis for catechetics. We therefore pass 
over these highly important principles. In order that the children 
may comprehend the contents of the Christian doctrine and life, 
clearly and definitely, a conscientious explanation of the catechet- 
ical text is absolutely necessary. The explanation should precede 
the learning, as a rule and from principle. We distinguish several 
kinds of explanations which, selected according to the nature of 
the striking questions, are to be applied. (Compare, pp. 777 — 7^ 2 )* 



794 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



1. The grammatical and syntactical explanation. This meets 
the child if the view of the text or the construction of the cate- 
chism presents any serious difficulties. But it is precisely, there- 
fore, according to its nature, entirely and solely an auxiliary means, 
and should always be only applied with wise limitations; otherwise 
a catechist will be converted into a grammarian. The grammatic 
explanation selects various difficult words, supplants them by 
others, explains them — not by abstract, but by more rhetorical 
or exact definitions, descriptions, divisions into parts, etc. The 
syntactical explanation dissolves especially difficult constructions 
into several questions and sentences. Let us assume that the 
catechetical question reads as follows: What means faith? Faith 
means — to hold as certain and true whatever God has revealed 
and proposes for our belief through His Church. The foundation 
of the explanation might be the following analysis of the sentences: 
What does faith mean? Faith means to hold as certain and true 
whatever God has revealed (said). Who is it that puts all this 
like a light before us? The Catholic Church places all this like a 
light before us. What might be said instead of: The Catholic 
Church? I might say: the Pope, the bishops, the priests who 
follow the Pope. The teaching Church. The grammatic explana- 
tion is, however, often interwoven into the objective explanation 
to great advantage. 

2. The objective explanation. It naturally follows that the 
objective explanation is really the most important and the object 
of the explanatory teaching activity. 

We distinguish the following kinds of objective explanations: 

(a) The preparatory objective explanation, the synthetic ex- 
planation, see above, p. 780. There are catechetical questions 
which are so arranged that it is better to introduce them by a 
preparatory explanation. The catechetical question then appears 
as a conclusion, as a comprehension and a substance. This sort 
of explanation, however, is not the rule. (See above : the synthesis 
in catechetical instruction, the Munich method, pp. 780, 782.) 

(b) The historical explanation. There are dogmas which, at 
the same time, are great historical events. There are, furthermore, 
articles of faith and precepts, which stand, at least, in close relation 
to such events. In all these and similar cases, however, the explana- 
tion should be presented in such a manner that it may correspond 
entirely to the catechetical question and be governed by it. How 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



795 



differently also do the various evangelists narrate the same event 
— according to the different teaching object of their gospel, with- 
out violating thereby historical fidelity. The historical explana- 
tion may be a preparatory one [see above (a) ] — it may follow 
the recitation of the catechetical question — often it may also 
form an introduction to the comprehension of an entire catechetical 
chapter. Thus, f.i., the biblical account of the sixth chapter of 
St. John, as well as the immediately preceding events which the 
other Apostles narrate, might be selected as an introduction and 
foundation of the doctrine of the sacrament of the altar. The 
biblical history would here have to be considered already in the 
narrative under certain objective thoughts, and presented accord- 
ingly. In this way accessory circumstances, which are less relative 
to the purpose, might be omitted to advantage. The catechetical 
presentation might be controlled in the adduced example by the 
following thoughts. Historical preparatory explanations: 

1. The miraculous multiplication of the bread: the Son of 
God gives a miraculous bread. 

2. The nocturnal passing of Jesus over the sea: the Son of 
God can be miraculously present; 

3. Christ teaching in the synagogue of Capharnaum. The 
leading thoughts might be the following: 

(a) I will give you a more miraculous bread than yesterday. 

(b) I will give you a more miraculous bread than the manna. 

(c) This bread is a bread from heaven. 

(d) I am this bread from heaven. 

(e) My flesh and blood are this bread from heaven. 

(/) This you must believe (Jews, disciples, Apostles, and 
Christians). 

(g) He who believes not is a devil. (More explicit explanations, 
see above, p. 290 sqq.) 

These thoughts ought be interwoven into the narrative and 
pithily emphasized. The children ought live, as it were, in the 
trend of the events and of the language. The most striking points 
ought be drilled by choral rehearsal to great advantage. 

(c) The dogmatic explanation. It is of the utmost importance 
here to explain the great ideas of faith clearly and definitely, richly 
and feelingly. All these ideas are real blessings from God to the 
faithful reason of man. The catechist should be filled with the 
longing of the Saviour, Who said to the Samaritan woman: Si 



796 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



selves donum Dei, etc.: "If thou but knewest the gift of God." 
It becomes at once evident that the catechist should employ all 
talents and gifts and prepare himself constantly to bring religious 
ideas, such as the divinity of Christ, the Church, grace, contrition, 
justice, virtue, faith, humility, the carrying of the cross, etc., 
closely home to the intelligence of the children. 

The means and the ways for obtaining clear ideas of the super- 
sensible and the supernatural we have fully considered in the homi- 
letics. The same principles and partly also the same examples 
will answer for the catechetics. (See the Homiletic Studies, p. 
605 sqq.) For the children we would recall especially the examples 
and the parables, the cause and the effects, the historical sketches 
and the combination of religious ideas with the practical Christian 
life of the children. But the text and the conception of the cate- 
chism and also the whole combination of the catechetical questions 
in the objective explanation should be sharply emphasized, in 
order that the children might remain convinced that the text of 
the catechism is being explained. 

The same principles obtain in the explanation of the articles of 
faith, in a more limited sense. Luminous and refreshing like the 
light of the sun, firmly and unswervingly like foundation rocks 
should the articles of faith be deposited into the souls of the children. 

(d) The moral explanation proceeds on the self-same principles. 
The directly practical side of the moral explanation we will treat 
in the teaching activity of applications. (See also above, p. 73 sqq., 
on the moral application and principal themes of the moral sermons.) 

(e) The predominant explanation. Not all catechetical questions 
require the same extensive explanation: they differ in impor- 
tance and comprehensibility. True, it should be strongly empha- 
sized that the whole contents of faith must be undiminishingly 
announced and believed. Still, there are articles of faith which 
are the foundation and the root of others. There are also truths 
that must be believed and known necessarily and explicitly. Fi- 
nally, there are doctrines contained in the catechism which are for 
practical life of greater consequence than others. According to 
these view-points the catechist must judge his theme, and according 
to the measure of the same view-points devote more time to the 
explanation of certain questions than to others. Thus, f.i., in the 
instruction for communion the question: Has the sacrament of 
the holy Eucharist the marks of a sacrament? requires merely the 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



797 



scantiest explanation. For no one, who really accepts the doc- 
trine of the holy Eurharist, is in any danger today of doubting its 
sacramental character. For other reasons the following questions 
require but a short explanation: Is the body alone present under 
the form of bread? When the priest breaks the host, is the body 
of Christ also divided thereby? How long does Jesus remain 
present in the holy Eucharist? It is here sufficient to emphasize 
the articles of faith clearly and worthily, possibly in the spirit of 
the Lauda Sion. A too extensive explanation might be an obstacle 
to the comprehension of the children. On the other hand, the 
question, f.i., concerning the proof of the presence of Christ in 
the holy Eucharist, requires, on account of its fundamental signifi- 
cance, a really extensive exposition, also, and, for practical reasons, 
the question on the effects of communion. In general the cate- 
chist should enumerate and weigh, according to these principles, 
the catechetical questions in the beginning, at the determination 
of the matter and the aim in teaching. 

(/) The repeating and collective explanation. The catechist 
should, from time to time, collect the most important parts of the 
sacred doctrine briefly, clearly, perspicuously, and attractively into 
so-called (Stamm) primary catecheses, in connection with certain 
catechetical questions, or leaning toward the prayers and doctrinal 
parts of the first part of the catechism. These general catecheses 
are especially fruitful in the higher classes, before dismissal from 
school, so that the children may obtain once more a beautiful and 
thoroughly grounded general view of religion. In union there is 
strength. (Compare above, The principal themes, and pp. 328, 330.) 

(g) The apologetic explanation. The fundamental truths and 
the differential doctrines require, in the higher classes, uncondi- 
tionally an apologetic explanation. The catechist should generally 
view the apologetic requirements of a wise preventive method in 
a well-measured and far-sighted manner. We have expressed our- 
selves upon this in an extensive manner in the treatment of demon- 
stration and of the apologetic sermons. 

§ 5. The Catechetic Demonstration 

The demonstration of truth is, for a catechist as well as for the 
preacher, a serious duty. We simply refer here to the earlier 
exposition of homiletic proofs. The catechist must keep constantly 
in view the principles therein expressed. The highest principles 



798 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



for this catechetical teaching activity are, consequently, the 
following : 

1. The catechist must prove that that which he teaches is the 
word of God and not of man. (Real direct proofs. Compare 
herewith the homiletic studies.) 

2. The catechist must often prove that what he says and 
requires follows necessarily from the word of God, though it be 
not explicitly expressed therein. (On these proofs and their kinds, 
see also the homiletics.) 

3. To this the catechist may add, in the proper place, some 
single natural proof (secondary proof), 

4. The most important methodic suggestions for catechetical 
demonstration should be the following: the demonstration should 
be: 

(a) Comprehensible to the children. 

(b) Not an apology for unbelievers and doubters, but intended 
for children who have faith. 

(c) Well calculated, and also the objections, the difficulties, 
and prejudices which the children will be apt to hear in later life. 
This should, by no means, be omitted in the higher classes. 

(d) Attractive, not purely scientific, especially with fruitful 
applications of biblical events. 

(e) Gradually progressing; for the lower grade the scientific 
explanation is generally sufficient, for the middle grade direct 
proofs are sufficient, for the higher grade all manner of proofs are 
admissible, but always with wise limitation for application. 

Corollary: What is to be said of the heuretic and socratic method 
in the explanation and demonstration by the catechist? 

1. Never should this method be the dominant one in Catholic 
catechization; for we do not announce a religion which can be 
developed from the natural human reason, but the religion deliv- 
ered by revelation. 

2. Per accidens the heuretic-socratic method may be utilized 
by the catechist to advantage, if, f.i., certain truths of revelation 
have already been quoted and explained, especially in repetitions, 
when through the instigation of thought from the revealed truths 
others might easily be inferred; in the primary (Stamm) cate- 
cheses, in truths which follow from biblical events, in truths which 
are also found in the natural domain of the intellect. 

It would be a great mistake if the catechist were to develop, 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



799 



in the parochial school, the truths of salvation predominantly or 
always first from reason, and only confirm them afterwards and 
superficially by the testimony of revelation. He should also avoid 
undignified, hair-splitting explanations and all such that would 
only harm a guileless youth, as, f.i.; "How will all men find place 
in heaven? " "Could you possibly love a man who had murdered 
your father?" (See above: synthesis and analysis.) 

§ 6. The Catechetical Application 
(Compare pp. 71-78.) 

The most important in the catechetical office is the effect upon 
life. This aim is, therefore, common to all methods, and is their 
touchstone. The so often repeated aim of homiletics, of all teach- 
ing and instruction, should also here control everything: ut vitam 
habeant et abundantius habeant. We refer again to the homiletic 
principles, and here only emphasize the main methodic principles : 

1. No catechesis should close without giving the children some- 
thing directly useful for the practical Christian life and recom- 
mending it most warmly (p. 72 sqq.). 

2. It is not necessary to connect an exhortation with every 
catechetical question. For this purpose the catechist should select 
the most suitable questions. 

3. The catechist should awaken in the children religious emo- 
tions of adoration, of a joyful faith, of the fear of God, of love. 
By the grace of God and the proper influence of the catechist these 
emotions will develop into a free emotional activity, and thus become 
a moral property of the children. (Compare herewith the homi- 
letic studies, p. 43 sqq., (a), (/3), and pp. 646-656 on emotions, 
emotional activity, and the effects on the will.) 

4. The catechist should especially keep the practical aim of 
the catechesis very vividly before his mind: 

(a) In general. 

(b) In regard to every catechesis. 

(c) In regard to the individual cases of the lives of the children. 

(d) In regard to the future of the children. 

He should always re-animate himself by the following and 
similar practical questions: What articles of faith must the chil- 
dren positively believe? What follows from this special article of 
faith for life? What special religious exercise can I explain to the 
children on this occasion? What is the practical essence of this 



8oo HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



question, of this history, of this chapter? What faults and sins 
must I especially endeavor to remove from my youth? How, 
where, and when can I introduce the children into the life of grace? 
What can I do today for the life of grace of these children? What 
main application can I make in order not to overburden the chil- 
dren too much with resolutions? What definite plan should I 
adopt for practical application, for this half-year? for that scho- 
lastic year? The catechist will often make, in his pastoral life and 
not merely in the pastoral care of the youth, the one or other experi- 
ence which — though possibly not immediately, but after some 
time — will become an occasion for a striking application in the 
course of the instruction of the youth. The catechist should make 
note of such thoughts and reminiscences by entering a few catch- 
words into his diary and occasionally meditate thereon. It is well 
in the preparation, sometime or other, to look through these scat- 
tered pastoral notes. They will not very infrequently prove to 
be fruitful sources for practical religious education, especially for 
the catechesis. For the training of the conscience and the casuis- 
tics of life Dr. Foerster's " Jugendlehre " would render most excellent 
service. Much that is methodical can be learned from it. But 
the catechist must place everything in the golden ground of the 
supernatural. He should not engage himself in mere natural 
ethics, but he should impart a supernatural ethical instruction with 
noble casuistics for life. 

It would really be a conspiracy against the catechetical office, 
if the catechist were to apply himself exclusively to reason; the 
education of the will by truth and grace is the main thing. 

5. The catechist should support all his applications by clear, 
theologically correct motives, which, however, must be adapted to 
the intelligence and sentiments of the children. 

6. In such exhortations the formerly mentioned principles con- 
cerning the language of the children should be especially observed. 

§ 7. The Impression of Truths 

We wish to recall to mind the following principles: 
1. The catechism should be literally learned by heart. In regard 
to feeble children, who are always lagging behind, it must be stren- 
uously insisted that they retain in memory most accurately at least 
the formulas of prayer and the most important principal questions. 
The superadded biblical texts should always be learned by the 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



801 



children with the more important question, and in the higher 
classes they ought be learned entirely, interwoven with the 
questions. 

2. As a rule only that which has already been explained should 
be learned by heart. If time be lacking, then the explanation of 
the words with a beginning of an objective explanation should 
precede. In exceptional cases only should questions, previously 
not explained, be now and then selected as memory tasks in the 
higher classes. 

3. The children should be given direct practical direction to 
memorize, especially for comprehensive and well-planned memor- 
izing, which gradually advances in a slow, chapter-like manner 
with constantly renewed short repetitions. 

§ 8. The Process of Teaching in Catechetical 
Instruction 

The first part of the hour for instruction should be spent in 
repetition (twenty to thirty minutes). The other part should 
be filled in by the explanation of new matter, by explanations 
with proofs, by applications and exhortations according to the 
requirements. 

For a change a whole hour may be spent, now and then, in 
asking questions. In this case, however, the entire repetition 
should be enhanced by interspersed questions of intelligence, very 
briefly superadded explanations and applications. 

Other teachers of catechetics propose the following methods: 

(a) Questioning. 

(b) Objective explanations, expositions, and applications of what 
has already been briefly explained, learned, and questioned in the 
previous hour. 

(c) The recitation of the new catechetical questions with a 
verbal and very short objective explanation of new matter which 
is to be learned for the next hour. 

We prefer the first method. In every process the catechist 
himself should recite the text of the catechism (the question and 
answer — or at least the answer). Then only should he begin the 
explanation. In the synthetic treatment (see above) he should 
permit the full, unchanged catechetical sentence at the end to 
loom up as a gain, a final result, the substance and the fundamental 
thought. 



8o2 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



§ 9. The Familiarizing of Children with Religious 

Truths 

The catechetical truths must become principles of life. The 
children must thereby experience and live into what they hear in 
the religious instruction of faith, of grace, and of Christian life. 
The catechist is, therefore, also the co-operator of the Holy Ghost, 
who excites all this in the children, fosters it, and brings it to per- 
fection. The catechist should, on his part, direct his constant 
attention to the following points: 

(a) To the practical applications of which we have spoken 
above. 

(b) To all the relations of catechetical instruction to the sacra- 
mental life and to the life of divine worship. 

(c) To innumerable occasions in the school, outside of the 
school, in the personal intercourse of private pastoration, in which 
the religious life may be fostered from all sides. 

The saying of the Apostle applies also to the catechist : Praedica 
verbum, insta opportune, importune, argue, obsecra in omni patientia 
et doctrina. Vigila, in omnibus labora, opus fac evangelistae. (II Tim. 
4: 2 sqq. Compare also. p. 636, n. d.) 

Article II. The Instruction in Bible History 

§ 1. The Main Principle 

It would be not at all impossible, absolutely speaking, to select 
the Bible history as a foundation for religious instruction. It 
would have to be arranged especially for this in a methodic manner. 
The insufficiency of Holy Scripture which, as a source of faith, does 
not announce all truths and events of religion, would thus have to 
be supplemented by well-planned additional exegeses, conclusions, 
doctrines, and developments of tradition. Such a text-book would 
acquire the form probably mutatis mutandis, of Mey's catecheses 
for the lower grades of popular schools. It would constitute a 
book which would contain, at the same time, catechism and Holy 
Scripture. The homiletic method which in primeval times con- 
trolled the sermon, would then be transferred to the catechumenate. 

Such a method of teaching, however, does not respond to the 
overwhelming direction of the ecclesiastical development. The 
foundation was constituted, as we have already seen above, always 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



803 



by a kind of a catechism. Besides this, the highly important 
biblical instruction was also developed. We are building our sug- 
gestions on ecclesiastical tradition. 

The catechism is the foundation, the center, and the text-book 
of the Catholic religious instruction. 

The Bible history aims at a support, an animation, a foundation, 
an emphasis, and an illustration of religion. 

Catechism and Holy Scripture bring the two great momentous 
points of religious doctrine and historical events into a proper 
light and correct combination. 

Therefore, fundamentally and psychologically considered, the 
biblical instruction appears: 

(a) Predominant, but combined with catechetical elements 
upon the scholastic grade of the smallest children. (Compare 
above, the chapter on catechization of the smallest children.) 

(b) As serving the catechism as a rich source of explanations, 
demonstrations, and applications in all the grades of catechetical 
instruction itself. 

(c) As independent, running parallel with the catechetical 
instruction in the middle and higher classes. 

§ 2. The Importance of Biblical Instruction 

The great importance of biblical instruction appears: 

(a) From the importance and inestimable utility of Holy Scrip- 
ture for the entire announcement of the Gospel, in all grades. 
Upon this point we have already expressed ourselves very fully 
in the Homiletic Studies. The Bible is the book given by the 
Holy Ghost Himself to teachers of religion; it is the word of God 
in the fullest sense; a summary and a complete view of religion; 
a picture of religion as a fact in flesh and in blood, in color and in 
life; the book on Jesus Christ; the book of divine providence in 
great and small things; a means of enriching our religious ideas; 
a collection of marvelous characters; a source of popular and child- 
like' eloquence (pp. 94-146.) The importance follows: 

(b) From the effectiveness of the historical momentous events 
on the intellect, the imagination, the memory, and the emotions 
of the children. (Compare the Homiletics: The significance of 
the life of Jesus for sermons and the catechesis, p. 99 sqq., pp. 
137-142; pp. 672-678, on historical sketches, p. 629 sqq., on the 
significance of Holy Scripture for the awakening of emotions, 



8o4 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



p. 726 sqq. But, above all, compare our treatise on divine prag- 
matics and pedagogics of Holy Scripture, pp. 93-145.) 

§ 3. The Method oe Biblical Instruction 

1. The general method has already been fully discussed in the 
Homiletic Studies. The teacher of religion should, above all, enter 
into the spirit of Holy Scripture. (Compare our direction in § 6 
of the chapter on Holy Scripture as divine pragmatics and peda- 
gogics in particular, pp. 93-144, and also, pp. 146-165.) 

2. We will combine the special method in connection with 
the excellent commentary on Bible history, by J. Knecht, auxiliary 
Bishop of Freiburg, I. Br., in the following principles: 

(a) A well-prepared previous narrative. A previous narrative 
should take place in connection with Holy Scripture and with 
Bible history, with paraphrases on the most important passages — 
these, however, are to be quoted possibly in the text. In the 
higher classes reading may take its place occasionally, but not 
always. The extremely fruitful teaching activity of the narrative 
should, by no means, be undervalued, and the catechist should 
conscientiously prepare himself for this, with the assistance of Bible 
History and of the Gospels. Lohmann's Evangelienharmonie and 
Knecht's Kommentar would render great service in this work. 

(b) The explanation of that which is most important and most 
difficult, eventually also in connection with the reading of the 
history after the previous narrative. 

(c) The impression on the minds of the children. With but a 
very limited time and school circumstances, the most important 
histories at least ought be thoroughly memorized; the rest may 
possibly be more cursorily treated. The main weight, of course, 
is to be placed on the New Testament and especially on the life 
of Jesus. 

(d) The interpretation. The important catechetical work in 
biblical instruction is the interpretation, i.e., the entering into 
the historical, dogmatic, moral, and ascetic substance of the bib- 
lical chapter. The persons, in their historical significance of sal- 
vation, and with their characteristic properties, the articles of 
faith with their proofs and confirmations, the parallel catechetical 
questions in regard to the matter contained in the biblical chapter, 
the precepts as they proceed directly from the lips of God, of our 
Saviour and God's representatives — all this should be brought to the 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



805 



minds of the children by clear, lively, and thorough presentations 
during the interpretation given by the catechist. However, the 
catechist should not herein overlook the pedagogic maxim: " limit- 
ation shows the master," nor that other one: non multa, sed niultunt. 
In this activity of teaching the catechist will be mightily assisted 
by a constant consideration of the following two view -points: 

(a) Which is the (dogmatic, moral) essence of this history, the 
real aim of the Holy Ghost and of the inspired biblical writers? 

(J3) How may I best promote the joy of the children through 
the Bible, and especially through the life of Jesus? 

(e) The utility of the application: From the rich material of 
a Bible history or a biblical chapter the catechist should finally 
select a practical main thought, place it into an immediate objective 
thought, and bring it as an application in the most possible close 
and direct relation to the life of the children. (See Homiletics on 
practical application, pp. 72-77, and, for the whole, the directions 
for homiletic exegesis, pp. 151-165, and for the homily. 

A. An Insight into Knechfs Method 

We have followed, as has already been mentioned, in the exposi- 
tion of the methods for the biblical instruction, the suggestions of 
Dr. Knecht. We will likewise add a cursory presentation of this 
method of teaching, calculated for a two-hours' course, and place 
parallel with it a more recommendable course of teaching, simpli- 
fied for the circumstances of a limited time, but also for certain 
themes at the outset. 

1. A previous narrative. 

2. An explanation of that which is most necessary. 

3. Impression on the minds of the children. 

4. Interpretation. 

5. Central applications. 

Divided over two hours this activity would be as follows: 

(a) A previous narrative (in the last ten minutes of an hour, 
eventually connected with n. (b) ). 

(b) An explanation of the most necessary (then reading). 

(c) The impression on the mind (at home). 

(d) The questioning (twenty to thirty minutes in the following 
hour). 

(e) An interpretation of the rich contents, etc., of the same 
story. 



806 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



(/) Central applications. 

(g) The narration of a new story. 

{h) The explanation of the most necessary, etc. 

B. A Modification of this Method 

There are stories wherein two teaching activities may be com- 
bined. This would be especially recommendable in the following 
cases : 

(a) In the narrative and treatment of short but important and 
comprehensive stories, of prominent events of deep psychological 
impressions, f.i., of the calming of the sea. In order to gain a 
full impression the narrative, the explanation of the most necessary 
and the interpretation, might be here combined into one striking 
whole view. (Compare above, treatise on the homily.) The hour 
is divided into two parts: the questioning and the repetition (with 
an interwoven supplement) , a previous narrative with a full explana- 
tion of a new story. 

(b) In long connected series of scenes or doctrinal recitations: 
here the explanation and the interpretation are best united at once 
with the narrative, in order that the whole may not be too much 
split up into too many parallel teaching activities in the several 
chapters. We refer here to the Sermon on the Mount. 

Article III. Instruction and Education of Children who are to 
make Their First Confession 

Preliminary remarks: Consult herewith our comprehensive 
homiletic consideration of the sacrament of penance, pp. 334-363. 
In the following articles we will merely emphasize the fundamental 
methodic principles. Special methodics should be a part of cate- 
chetical exercises for the course of those who are to be ordained, 
in connection with an experimental school. 

1. The time of admission into the instruction for confession, 
and thus for the first confession, might be regarded in our country 
between the ages of seven and eight years, in other words, when 
the children have finished in some form the instruction for the 
smallest children and have, in a measure, learned to read. But 
regard must be had for certain circumstances, for early mental 
maturity, for conditions of health and such like. With a thorough, 
extensive, and comprehensive instruction the children may make 
their first confession comparatively early. 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



807 



2. The entire instruction for the first confession must be based 
on the thought that the children are now preparing themselves for 
the most important act they have hitherto done. The religious 
seriousness of life now appeals to them directly for the first time. 
But there arrives now for them also the most happy day that they 
have hitherto experienced since their baptism. All of this points 
to a holy disposition of joy which should animate the catechist 
and the children during the whole course of instruction. The day 
of the first confession should be for these children an expected day 
of joy: Eaec est dies, quam fecit Dominus, exultemus et laetemur 
in ea. 

3. The most important points of the method of instruction of 
an educational character of the first order are the following: 

(a) The foundation is the small catechism. Still, not all ques- 
tions are equally important. It is better in limited circumstances 
to omit several less essential questions, in order to be able to dwell 
longer on the more important points. 

(b) A grand work is always accomplished by the practical 
introduction of the children into the examination of conscience 
according to the Ten Commandments. Remember that: 

(a) The Ten Commandments should be explained in an attract- 
ive, practical, and short manner, with an application of the example 
of Jesus and of the saints. There should be first a biblical prepar- 
atory exercise, f.i., the III. Commandment: Jesus in Jerusalem; 
IV. Commandment: the disobedient child before God the Father 
(a vivid illustration of the event on Sinai, connected with the an- 
nouncement of the IV. Commandment) — before God the Son 
(the obedient Jesus of Nazareth comes to look deep down into the 
eye and the soul of the disobedient child — I, the Son of God, was 
subject to my parents and now I find you — thus ! Oh, poor 
child, how little you resemble me !) — before God the Holy Ghost. 
(Listen to what the Holy Ghost thinks of disobedience. He per- 
mitted a dreadful word to be entered into Holy Scripture: "The 
eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the labor of his 
mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it out, 
and the young eagles eat it." (Prov. 30: 17.) In connection with 
these previous biblical exercises or, at least, simultaneously there- 
with, the substance of the commandment should be very briefly 
explained. Hereby all the questions of the catechism on the Com- 
mandments need not be repeated; that would be superfluous and 



808 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



a loss of time. There is here question only of that which is directly 
practical. 

Hereby is gained a comparatively small number of the best 
and directly prepared questions for memorizing, in a closer or wider 
connection with the smaller catechism, which may be best exer- 
cised during the instruction itself by recitations in chorus. 

(y) To this is added a casuistic exercise for confession, which 
should be occasionally repeated during five to ten minutes in the 
most of the future hours in a consistent and tactful manner. How 
ought a child to make its confession? To confess that it has done 
this or that. At first very few, then a motley number of mixed, 
then somewhat increased, examples of sins should be given. The 
children themselves should arrange them according to the Deca- 
logue: The child should confess thus, f.i., The First Commandment: 
Often I have not said my morning and night prayer. The Second 
Commandment: nothing. The Third Commandment: I missed 
mass on Sunday once through my own fault (wilfully), etc. The 
following of an exact order of the Commandments should be in- 
sisted upon. (There should be no catechetical exercise de sexto.) 

(8) It would be advantageous to arrange the Commandments 
later, with their practical questions for memorizing, under certain 
stock-phrases or catch-words, f.i., in the First Commandment I 
must think of prayer; in the second of the holy name; in the 
third of Sunday; in the fourth of my parents; in the fifth of 
others; in the sixth and ninth of impurity; in the seventh and 
tenth of stealing; in the eighth of lying. In regard to the 
precepts of the Church the mention of the law of abstinence is 
enough for this grade. The other precepts and the capital sins 
may be considered in themselves, or with a commandment of God. 

(c) The catechist must devote much attention and considerable 
time to the doctrine and still more to the exercise of contrition and, 
especially : 

(a) By good and yet not too wide and subtle explanations of ideas 
in connection with the question. 

(/3) By a well-prepared catechesis on the Passion of Christ, or 
some particular stations thereof, as a road to contrition, especially 
to perfect contrition. (Compare hereon moral theology, and espe- 
cially above, pp. 329-336.) 

(y) At the instruction on contrition and the introduction thereto 
and also in regard to the resolutions connected therewith, the cat- 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



809 



echist ought constantly remember the aim of amelioration, and 
thus act on the character of the children. 

(8) Furthermore, great attention should be devoted to the 
properties of confession, especially to sincerity, finally also to the 
exterior form of confession. If the children do not know the form 
of confession the reception of this sacrament becomes very burden- 
some to them. 

(e) On the day of confession the children should be directly 
prepared, before the reception of the sacrament, by a practical 
exhortation. An act of contrition made with the children, all 
together, should by no means be omitted. The catechist should 
pay great attention to the preparation before every confession of 
the children. On hearing the confessions of children consult moral 
theology, f.i., Lehmkuhl, II. vol., n. 477 sqq., also Noldin and 
Gopfert. 

(d) Good discipline during the reception of the sacrament is 
best secured by exact rules in regard to the going and coming, 
by not retaining the children too long in the church for preparation 
before and after confession, and by a special supervision. 

Article IV. The Preparation for First Communicants 

(Compare herewith above: The IV. Sunday of Lent, Holy 
Thursday, Low Sunday, the feast of Corpus Christi, the theme of 
sermons on Jesus, and also the whole time of Lent.) 

The importance of the instruction for first communion follows 
from the central position in the Catholic religion and the Christian 
life of the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist itself. Dogma, Holy 
Scripture, and ascetics present for this an immense volume of 
proofs. All these reasons are confirmed by the circumstance that 
the catechist desires to lead the firstlings of his youth to the Saviour 
(p. 583, n. 2). 

He may therefore say with St. Augustin : Vos alloquimur novella 
germina sanctitatis, regenerata ex aqua et Spiritu Sancto: germen 
pium examen novellum, flos nostri honoris et fructus laboris, gaudium 
et corona mea. (Sermon I. in Octava Paschae; in the breviary, the 
II. Nocturn of Low Sunday; see p. 452 sqq.) 

2. The requirements on part of the catechist for the instruction 
of the first communicants are of a high order. With a thorough- 
ness and a loyalty to the doctrines of the Church must be combined, 
especially in the instruction for the first communicants, a warm 



8io HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



heart, an exalted disposition of soul, and the practical aims of the 
catechist throughout the entire work: Of the abundance of the 
heart the mouth speaketh. The catechist must not only familiarize 
himself with his matter and his great task through study, but also 
through meditation. 

3. The methods of teaching in the instructions for first com- 
munion. The thought, the emotion, and the life of the children 
must be prepared from the first address of the catechist to the 
conclusion of the instruction, again and again, for the greatness 
of the coming day and for the expected supreme happiness of man. 
The catechist should especially act upon: 

(a) The amelioration of the lives of the children by systematic 
and ascetic directions, f.i., by occasional exhortations. Such exer- 
cises may be interspersed with the instruction; occasionally they 
arise also from themselves. Much that is useful and stimulating 
might be found in Kosterus: "Das letzte Jahr vor dem grossten 
Tage im Kinderleben." The children must become conscious that: 
Nox praecessit, dies appropinquavit. Abjiciamus opera tenebrarum 
et induamur arma lucis . . . induimini Dominum Jesum Christum. 
(Rom. 13.) 

(b) A sacred disposition of joy ought control the whole instruc- 
tion. Gaudete, iterum dico gaudete: Dominus enim prope est. In 
a still higher sense than in the instruction for confession are these 
words applicable to the day of communion: Haec est dies, quam 
fecit Dominus, exultemur et laetemur in ea. (See Phil. 4, and the 
liturgy of Easter. Compare also above, Holy Saturday, § 43, 
pp. 387-399, and § 44, p. 399 sqq., also Easter-week and Low 
Sunday.) 

(c) The life of grace in the children must be especially close 
to the heart of the catechist during this sacred time. Therefore 
he should do all in his power and invoke, time and again, the aid 
of the divine Friend of the souls of the children. (Mementoes for 
first communicants at mass and at the hours of adoration.) 

4. The methodics in teaching this matter. We would here 
refer to the following momentous points: 

(a) The instruction for first communion is not a comprehensive, 
general repetition of the entire doctrine of holy religion. This is 
rather the task of the higher classes of the school. The doctrines 
on the grace of Christ and on the sacraments, briefly repeated at 
the beginning, are of great advantage. 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



811 



(b) The main purpose of the instruction is the doctrine of the 
Holy Eucharist y especially of the real presence of Christ and of 
Holy Communion. The holy sacrifice of the mass is treated as 
much as possible, especially from its practical side. If there be a 
scarcity of time this chapter might well be inserted after the instruc- 
tion for first communion. 

(c) The most detailed treatment is required, no doubt, for the 
historical facts of the promise and the institution of the Holy 
Eucharist, for the faith of the primeval Church, and especially for 
further proofs of the real presence of Christ, for the practical con- 
clusions from the doctrine of the Blessed Sacrament for life, for 
the effects of Holy Communion, and for the proximate preparation 
for Holy Communion, for the deeper and better knowledge of the 
person of Jesus : Haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant Te solum Deum 
Verum et quern misisti Jesum Christum. (John 17: 3.) 

(d) The matter should be gone over two to three times. The 
repetitions may follow by chapters after the first treatment, or 
appear as an entire repetition, with an emphasized explanation. 
The instructions ought begin, in case the first communion be re- 
ceived on Low Sunday, at least on Septuagesima or at Epiphany. 

5. The proximate preparation for Holy Communion comprises 
two most momentous points: 

(a) A good practical preparation for a confession of the whole 
life (parallel with the instruction or within the two last weeks), 
and : 

(b) Spiritual exercises in some form, but on the foundation of 
the Ignatian plan, calculated, however, for children. (See p. 
502 sqq.) 

A great value should be placed upon these spiritual exercises, 
and they should constantly be prepared in one or the other form. 
Besides the themes of the via purgativa (the foundation: save your 
soul — mortal sin — venial sin — hell — examination of conscience 
— contrition — confession — amendment of character) — the one 
or other address should be on Christ Jesus — on His life — in 
communion — in the life of the children. The biblical element 
should exercise a great influence, and the one or other thought on 
the aim of the Ignatian exercises should be utilized as far as is 
possible for children. (Compare pp. 501-502.) Seriousness and 
love ought characterize the whole. All exaggerations and extrav- 
agances, especially in uncritical examples, should be avoided. 



8l2 



HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Article V. The Sacramental Life of the Children in General 

1. The instruction of the later course for confession is an exten- 
sion and an emphasis of the instruction for the first confession on 
the basis of the larger catechism. The practical main points are 
here also the same. 

2. The same may be also said of the later course for the first 
communicants, in regard to the instruction of the first communi- 
cants. It is far more preferable to instruct the first communicants 
separately, than to bring them together into a general course 
with the rest of the classes. 

3. Before every confession and communion, during the course 
of the year, the catechist should institute a short, practical, and 
attractive preparation. 

4. The catechist ought control the participation in the recep- 
tion of the sacraments very exactly. He should encourage and 
induce a voluntary frequent reception (on great feasts, during 
monthly devotions, f.i., during the month of May, May devotions, 
Sacred Heart devotions, devotions in honor of St. Aloysius, etc.). 
In regard to the number of the prescribed confessions and com- 
munions the diocesan statutes should be observed, 1 and also the 
directions of the moralists and of the ascetics on the reception of 
the sacraments by children. 

Article VI. The Induction into the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass 
and into the Entire Liturgy of the Church 

1. Upon the formerly and repeatedly treated instructions on 
the mass there is a continued building up, occasionally in all branches 
of instruction, and, from time to time, in the collective addresses. 
The following momentous points should be closely observed: 

(a) The liturgy of the mass is a repetition of the fife of Jesus. 
The prayer at the foot of the altar: the world without Jesus, a 
return to Jesus through penance and contrition; Gloria: Jesus, 
the divine child; the Epistle and the Gospel: Jesus the divine 
teacher; the offertory: the entire life of sacrifice of Jesus (compare, 
f.i., the prayers at offertory: our own sacrifice) ; consecration: the 
sacrifice of the cross of Jesus and its renewal, the liturgical acts of 
breaking and mixture, after the Pater noster: the resurrection of 

1 Since the more recent decrees on the more frequent and even daily communion, 
etc., these diocesan statutes have lost their force, no doubt. (Note by the translator.) 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



813 



Jesus with the paschal salute: Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum; 
Communion: the real or spiritual union with the Risen Saviour 
(spiritual communion) ; the last blessing : the last blessing of Jesus 
on Mt. Olive before the ascension, and the last blessing of Jesus 
over the just at the last judgment. Thus the children will learn 
to know Jesus in the mass, and they may say with the priest: 
Vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, plenum 
gratiae veritatis (John 1). (See above, p. 567.) 

(b) The changeable liturgy of the mass keeps us in constant touch 
with the ecclesiastical year. The catechist should explain to the 
children, especially before great feasts, and occasionally on Satur- 
days, possibly the Introit of the mass, the Epistle and the Gospel 
in connection with the ecclesiastical year or other selected parts 
of the changed formularies, in a manner suitable to children. 

(c) The holy mass is essentially a sacrifice. Therefore the chil- 
dren ought be led, step by step, always deeper and more practically, 
into the thought of the sacrifice of the mass. They should learn 
in reference herewith to celebrate the mass with the priest. 

(d) The children should, finally, be practically directed in 
school to use in an intelligent and fruitful manner the prayer- 
book. For this purpose some hour ought be selected. With this 
a practical repetition on the mass might easily be combined. 

2. The entire ecclesiastical year should, at opportune times, be 
drawn into the religious instruction again and again. (Hours of 
pericopes; see pp. 176-570.) 

CHAPTER III 

THE INSTRUCTION OF THE MORE ADVANCED YOUTH 

A. High Schools, district, secondary, and commercial schools. 

In the higher, secondary, district, and commercial schools, in 
the independent lower gymnasia and commercial schools, the 
diocesan catechism should serve as the best basis, and these instruc- 
tions should assume a deeper tone, and be also supplemented by a 
few thorough and attractive dictations, f.i., on faith, the chvinity 
of Christ, the infallibility of the Pope, mere human justice, and 
such like. Besides this a chapter of Bible history should be treated 
with an emphasized interpretation, f.i., one year of the teaching 
office of Christ, the history of the Passion and the resurrection, the 



814 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



Acts of the Apostles. Herewith apologetic and ascetic objective 
thoughts should be combined. Church history is to be treated in 
this grade especially in a biographical manner, with a repeated 
use of the catechism. In connection herewith several widely dif- 
fused historical lies and prejudices against the Church ought be 
treated. In fact, the catechist should call to mind the future 
dangers of these children, and make use of a wise preventive method. 
Some also recommend for this grade a religious text-book, which 
should be used with selections of a stimulating method. An intro- 
duction to the liturgy is very much recommended, especially before 
festive occasions. 

Supplementary dictations, classified and select questions on 
Church history, and scriptural liturgical instructions should, as a 
rule, be entered in a copy-book by the children, which is to be 
used again at the repetition. The catechist should endeavor to 
attract the young people of this grade, and be to them a real pastor 
of souls, and especially arm them against later attacks, and awaken 
and foster, above all, their sacramental life. Such a school ought 
be for pastor and children one family. 

B. Higher Educational Institutions 

The instruction in the higher educational institutions ought be 
based on the following principles: 

(a) The teacher of religion should be, above all, a pastor of 
souls. He should be, therefore, solicitous about the religion, the 
morals, the divine worship, and the sacramental life of the chil- 
dren, in and out of school, about their selection of a vocation, 
their imminent danger, in a word, about the whole life and the 
future of the pupils. 

(b) The lower classes of these higher educational institutions 
build best upon the catechism, or should have as a basis a simple 
religious text-book. In such cases, however, the instruction should 
be a more emphasized, but also a more attractive catechetical 
instruction. 

The middle classes should form a special circle of instruction, 
with a division of the entire matter over two or three (eventually 
three to four) years. A deeper induction into a solid religious 
knowledge, into the joyful possession of religious truths, then the 
earnest and impressive treatment of moral, especially of the First, 
Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh Commandments, exact stringent de- 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



mands upon the catechist. The biblical instruction may be com- 
bined with the religious doctrine, and also appear independent as an 
emphasized consideration of separate chapters. If Church history 
is to be taught in this grade, then a presentation ought be selected 
which is a middle course between a biographical and a connected 
treatment. But the practical aim and the apologetic considerations 
are herein not to be overlooked. 

The so-called primal (Stamm) catechesis, with connecting repe- 
titions of the entire religious doctrine or separate parts thereof, 
acts upon this grade in a vivid and refreshing manner. 

3. In the upper grades of these higher educational institutions the 
instruction assumes a more apologetic character. Here it is of vast 
importance to work for the later life, and to consolidate the religious 
foundation of young men for the future course of their studies, 
for their university life and their vocation. The progress of religious 
knowledge and religious life should be parallel with the progress of 
culture. The following momentous points should be well considered: 

(a) The fundamental truths: God, Christ, the Church, the super- 
natural must be placed in the foreground and receive their deepest 
confirmation. If these thoughts and convictions of faith be deeply 
rooted in the soul, then difficulties — which the young man cannot 
really solve at once for himself alone — will not, in any manner, 
be able to accomplish his fall. He will always be able to find an 
orientation in the Church through the motivum fidei and through 
ecclesiastical science. (Compare pp. 666 sqq.; 671 sqq.) 

(b) The natural praeambula fidei demand also a solid confirma- 
tion for this grade (eventually also in the philosophical course). 
In fact, the principles: "human nature and human intelligence 
lead necessarily to God" — "to be without religion and impious 
is, therefore, unreasonable and unnatural" — "to be religious is a 
matter of the highest honor" — must control the entire instruction 
and the whole education. 

(c) In this grade the religious culture should attain such a 
grade that the young man may be able to meet the more common 
objections of false science in their particular bearings. The re- 
ligious teacher must, therefore, keep himself in touch with profane 
science and the constantly new objections, etc., by constant study 
and by intercourse with the young people and the reading of the 
correspondent literature. 

(d) But it cannot be sufficiently emphasized that, in this grade 



816 HOMILETIC AND CATECHETIC STUDIES 



even, theology should not be taught, but practical religious doc- 
trine, in the higher sense, for the cultured young men. The prac- 
tise of religion, the clearly defined duties thereof, the greatness and 
the beauty, the honor and the happiness of religion, especially the 
great view-points of the religion of Jesus, finally, a constant regard 
for the peculiar conflict, danger, decision of vocation, the sacra- 
mental needs of the younger and the cultured men, must control 
the entire instruction. 

(e) Very important also is a beautiful and, for the young man, 
an attractive form of presentation. To the catechist, concerning 
contents and form, the following works will be of great service: 
Hettinger's Apologie, its fighter addresses; the Apologetics of 
Schanz and Gutberlet; the biblical works of Schuster — Holzam- 
mer, Hammerstein, Pesch, Nirschl, Meschler, P. Abel, and many 
others. (N.B. The teacher of religion must again and again work 
in the interest of the Church by thorough and solid philosophical 
studies in the cultured sphere of men.) (See also, p. 94 sqq.; 
PP- 545-553; 5 8 3> 5 8 7 sqq., and Apologetic sermons.) 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SUNDAY (CATECHETICAL) SCHOOL 

1. The Sunday-school or the Sunday catechetical instruction, 
regidarly instituted according to the diocesan statutes and well 
managed, is one of the best pastoral means that we possess. 

2. The Sunday catechetical instruction should maintain a middle 
course between a school catechesis and a sermon. It is a sort of 
a didactic sermon based on the catechism. It should, therefore: 

(a) Maintain a more didascalic character according to con- 
tents and form, since it acts upon the life by practical instruction. 
Even the tone should be more of the conversational style, and now 
and then animated by warm affections. 

(b) It should also be attractive and interesting to the people 
by practical instruction (by the avoidance of common words, 
and by a solid theological confirmation, a rich use of Holy Scrip- 
ture, historical sketches, and especially constant regard for prac- 
tical life). 

3. The catechist should prepare himself directly and especially 



CATECHETICAL STUDIES 



817 



indirectly, and, in time, select for himself a small suitable library, 
with special reference to the Sunday catechetical instruction. The 
procuring of a catechetical commentary, with sketches and partial 
elaborations in which the notes and experiences of pastoration 
among the young are again and again entered, is one of the most 
stimulating means of personal cultivation. 



PAGE 

Preface 9 

INTRODUCTION 

THE TEACHING OFFICE OF CHRIST AND OF THE CHURCH 13 

PART I. — HOMILETIC STUDIES 

Introduction 25 

TBoofe I 

THE ESSENCE AND THE FOUNDATION OF SACRED ELOQUENCE 28 

§ 1. The definition 28 

§ 2. Different forms under which sacred eloquence appears . 32 

§ 3. The psychological foundation of sacred eloquence ... 35 
§ 4. Significance, excellence, and dignity of sacred eloquence 

and of the office of preaching 38 

§ 5. The obligation of the office of preaching 40 

§ 6. The person of the preacher 41 

— Corollary 45 

TBoofe II 

THE TWO SUPREME LAWS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE . 51 

CHAPTER I. — The Practical Sermon 51 

Article I. General Laws of the Practical Sermon ... 51 

Article II. The Practical Selection of a Subject . . . . 52 

I. Point — Theological science — a guide to practical preaching 53 

II. Point — The liturgy and the selection of a subject . 55 
III. Point — The needs of the people and the selection of a 

subject 65 

818 



CONTENTS 819 



Article III. The Practical Determination of the Aim . . 65 

Article IV. The Practical Elaboration of a Sermon . . 72 
Article V. The Practical Knowledge of the People and 

of Men 76 

CHAPTER II. — The Popular Sermon ........ 77 

IBook III 

THE SOURCES OF SACRED ELOQUENCE .... 91 

CHAPTER I. — Holy Scripture 92 

Article I. Holy Scripture — A Source of Sacred Eloquence 92 
§ 1. Holy Scripture — the book created by the Holy Ghost for 

the preacher 94 

§ 2. Holy Scripture — the word of God in the fullest sense . 95 
§ 3. Holy Scripture — a summary and complete view of re- 
ligion 96 

§ 4. Holy Scripture — a view of religion — a fact in flesh and 

blood, in color, and in life 97 

§ 5. Holy Scripture — the book on Christ Jesus .... 99 

§ 6. Holy Scripture — a history of divine Providence ... 99 
§ 6. (Continued) — Holy Scripture — divine pragmatics and 

pedagogics in things particular 102 

§ 7. Holy Scripture — a means for enriching and improving 

our religious conceptions 146 

§ 8. Holy Scripture — a collection of marvelous characters . 149 
§ 9. Holy Scripture — the teacher of popular eloquence, a 

means of the popularization of religion 151 

Article II. The Use of Holy Scripture as a Source of Sacred 

Eloquence 151 

§ 1. The cursory reading 152 

§ 2. The study of commentaries 153 

§ 3. The study of pericopes 153 

§ 4. The real homiletic exegesis 154 

§ 5. The homiletic exegesis and the sense of Holy Scripture . 155 
§ 6. The homiletic exegesis and the entire contents of Holy 

Scripture 15 8 

CHAPTER II. — The Liturgy 164 

Article I. A Homiletic Comparison of the Liturgy with 

Holy Scripture 165 



820 



CONTENTS 



Article II. A Homiletic Meditation on Liturgy in General 165 

Article III. A Homiletic Meditation on the Eccleslastical 

Year 169 

§ 1. Conception of the liturgical time 169 

§ 2. The idea of the ecclesiastical year 170 

§ 3. The course of the ecclesiastical year . . . . . . 173 

§ 4. The course of Christmastide 173 

§ 5. The pre-celebration of Christmas: Advent .... 174 

§ 6. The First Sunday of Advent 176 

§ 6. (Continued) — Themes of Sermons for the First Sunday 

of Advent .179 

§ 7. The Second Sunday of Advent 189 

§ 8. The Third Sunday of Advent ........ 193 

§ 9. The Fourth Sunday of Advent 196 

§ 10. The vigil of Christmas 198 

§ 11. A review of Advent 200 

§ 12. Christmas: Historical remarks 201 

§13. Christmas: Liturgical and homiletic remarks . . . . 210 
§ 13. (Continued) — The octave of Christmas and the octaves 

during Christmas 220 

§ 14. The Epiphania Domini 225 

§ 15. The development of the idea of Epiphany during the 

octave and the Sundays after Epiphany . . . .235 

§16. The concluding feasts of Christmastide . . , . . . 245 

§ 17. The course of Eastertide 249 

§ 18. Historical remarks on the time previous to Lent and on 

Lent 250 

§ 19. The whole hturgic-homiletic view of the time before Lent 

and of Lent 255 

§ 20. The time prior to Lent — (first step) 256 

§ 21. Septuagesima 257 

§ 22. Sexagesima 258 

§ 23. Quinquagesima 259 

§24. The beginning of Lent — (the second step) . . . . 260 

§ 25. The First Sunday of Lent — (" Invocabit ") .... 271 

§26. The Second Sunday of Lent — (" Reminiscere ") ... 278 

§ 27. The Third Sunday of Lent — ("Oculi") 280 

§ 28. The Fourth Sunday of Lent — ("Laetare") .... 287 

§ 29. Passiontide — (third step) 293 

§30. Passion Sunday 294 

§31. Lenten sermons — (method) 302 

§ 32. Lenten sermons — (plans and sketches) 327 

§ 33. Holy Week — (fourth step) 334 

§ 34. Palm Sunday 33 8 

§ 35. The first Triduum of Holy Week 344 

§36. Monday of Holy Week 345 



CONTENTS 821 



§37. Tuesday of Holy Week 353 

§38. Wednesday of Holy Week 35- 

§39. The (second) Triduum sacrum 357 

§ 40. Coena Domini: Holy Thursday 361 

§41. Good Friday 372 

§ 42. Holy Saturday 385 

§ 43. The great night in the Lateran 386 

§ 44. The celebration of Easter on Holy Saturday . . . .399 

§ 45. Easter: The history of the feast of Easter 407 

§46. Easter: A general Hturgic-homiletic view 415 

§ 47. The history of the first Easter in the Bible and in liturgy 421 

§48. The mysteries of faith contained in Easter 436 

§ 49. The fruits of Easter 439 

§50. The octave of Easter 439 

§51. Eastertide 448 

§ 52. Low Sunday 451 

§ 53. The Second Sunday after Easter 463 

I. The fundamental disposition of this Sunday: a con- 
tinuation of the joy of Easter 463 

H. The development of Sunday: Easter and Holy Week 

ideas 465 

§ 54. The Third Sunday after Easter 475 

§ 55. The Fourth Sunday after Easter 479 

§56. The Fifth Sunday after Easter — Rogation Sunday . . 481 
§57. The Litaniae majores et minores, or the rogation proces- 
sions . 484 

§58. The vigil of the Ascension 490 

§59. The Ascension of Christ 492 

§ 60. Pentecost: Historical remarks ........ 495 

§61. Pentecost: Homiletic-liturgical remarks 496 

§62. The Home of the Holy Ghost 497 

§ 63. The octave of Pentecost 504 

§64. A review of Eastertide 507 

§65. The time after Pentecost 510 

§ 66. The first Sunday after the Pentecostal- octave . . . 514 

§67. The first week after the Pentecostal octave . . ' . . 520 

§68. Corpus Christi 521 

§ 69. The feast of the Sacred Heart 526 

§ 70. Homiletic remarks on the other Sundays and weeks after 

Pentecost 535 

§71. The conception of the kingdom after Pentecost, developed 

in a dogmatic-catechetical cycle on the Church . . 554 

§72. The concluding feasts of the ecclesiastical year . . . 556 
§ 73. The feasts of the Blessed Virgin and of the saints in 

general 564 

§ 74. A review of the ecclesiastical year — the last Sunday of 

the ecclesiastical year 565 



822 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER III. — The Writings of the Fathers of the Church . 570 

CHAPTER IV. — The Decisions of the Holy See and of the 

Councils 583 

CHAPTER V. — Scientific Theology 590 

CHAPTER VI. — Ascetic Literature 591 

CHAPTER VII. — Literature for Sermons 598 

TSook IV 

THE MEANS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE .... 604 

Article I. The Ways and the Means for Clear Religious 

Conceptions 605 

§ 1. Purely intellectual means 605 

§ 2. The sensible means of illustration in general .... 606 
§ 3. The sensible means of illustration in particular . . . 608 

Article II. The Ways and Means for Solid Supernatural 

Judgments, Principles, and Views of Life . . 630 

§ 1. I. Question: What must the preacher prove in the first 

order? 631 

§ 2. II. Question: What must the preacher prove in the 

second order? 635 

§ 3. III. Question: What different kinds and classes of proofs 

must the preacher apply? 636 

§4. IV. Question: How are the proofs and material of demon- 
stration in the sermon to be viewed and arranged 
by the preacher? 641 

§ 5. V. Question: What forms of proofs must the preacher 

select for the several proofs? 642 

Article III. The Ways and Means of Acting upon the Will 645 

T500& V 

THE CONTENTS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE ... 654 

§ 1. I. Question : What ought not be preached? . . . 655 
§ 2. II. Question: On what themes should one preach? . . 662 
§3. III. Question: Which are the principal themes for ser- 
mons? 663 



CONTENTS 823 



13ook VI 

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF ELOQUENCE .... 691 

CHAPTER I. — Differences According to the More Predominant 

Subjects of Sermons 692 

Article I. The Thematic-thesis Sermon, with a Predominant 

Scholastic-rhetoric Method 692 

§ 1. Dogmatic sermons 692 

§ 2. Apologetic sermons 700 

§ 3. Moral sermons 714 

§ 4. Sermons on the means of grace 721 

.Article II. The Exegetic Sermon with a Homiletic Method 722 

§ 1. The Homily 722 

CHAPTER II 736 

§ 1. Differences according to the occasion of the sermon . . 736 

§ 2. Sermons for the feasts of saints 737 

§ 3. Occasional sermons 740 

13oofc VII 

EXTERIOR FORM AND FORMS OF SACRED ELOQUENCE . 748 

§ 1. General questions concerning forms 748 

§ 2. Questions of form concerning single parts of sermons . . 751 

§ 3. The creation of a single sermon 755 

PART II. — CATECHETICAL STUDIES 

INTRODUCTION 75S 

§ 1. Catechesis, catechist, catechism, catechetics .... 75S 

§ 2. Division of catechetics 760 

I. The Fundamental Parts of Catechetics 761 

CHAPTER I. — The Duty of the Catechist 761 

CHAPTER II. — The Person of the Catechist 763 

CHAPTER III. — The Method of the Catechist 765 

Article I. What is a Catechetical Method ? 765 

.Article II. Is Method Necessary ? 765 

Article III. To what Principles may the Catechetical Method 

be Reduced ? 766 

§ 1. Catechize and educate for God and for eternity . . . 767 

§ 2. Catechize and educate as the representative of God . . 769 



824 



CONTENTS 



§ 3. Catechize and educate as one who knows man .... 770 

§ 4. Catechize according to method 776 

The teaching method: analysis and synthesis . . . 777 

II. A Special Part or Catechetics 784 

CHAPTER I. — The Instruction and Education of the Smallest . 784 

§ 1. The smallest catechumens 784 

§ 2. The catechesis of the smallest children 784 

§ 3. The prayer of children 786 

§ 4, The induction of the smallest children into mass . . . 787 



CHAPTER II. — The Instruction and the Education of Children 

for Confession and Communion 789 

Article I. Religious Instruction and Education on the Basis 

of the Catechism 789 

§ 1. The catechism 789 

§ 2. The teaching and learning activity in catechetical instruc- 
tion 792 

§ 3. The recitation of the text of the catechism 792 

§ 4. The explanation 793 

§ 5. The catechetical demonstration 797 

§ 6. The catechetical application (compare 72-79) .... 799 

§ 7. The impression of truth on the children 800 

§ 8. The mode of teaching in catechetical instruction . . . 801 

§ 9. The familiarizing of the children with religious truths . 802 

Article II. Instruction in Bible History 802 

§ 1. The main principle 802 

§ 2. The importance of biblical instruction 803 

§ 3. The method 804 

Article III. The Instruction and Education of the Children 

who are Preparing for their First Confession 806 

Article IV. Preparation for First Communion 809 

Article V. The Sacramental Life of the Children in General 812 



Article VI. Induction into Holy Mass and the Entire Lit- 
urgy of the Church 



812 



CONTEXTS 



825 



CHAPTER III. — The Instruction of the Advanced Youth . . 813 



Note. — See the Sundays and feast-days of the ecclesiastical year in the 
register of the paragraphs, page 820, and especially in the General Index under 
the corresponding titles, the several Sundays under: Sundays of Advent, 
Sundays of Christmas, Sundays of Epiphany, Septuagesima, etc., Sundays 
of Lent, Sundays after Easter, Sundays after Pentecost. 



CHAPTER IV. — The Sunday School 



816 



CONTEXTS 



818 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



826 



A 

Abel, P., 603 

Abraham, the progenitor, 107, 108, 11 1 

Abandonment of Christians to love of God, 366-368; to love of neighbor, 

369, 37o 
Accidentals, 75, 629 

Accounts, in Kingdom of Christ, 544, 545 
Action, 748 
Address, 748 

Admonitions, end of Eastertide, 476 
Adoration, 74, 75, 82, 83, 232, 234, 350 

Adoration of Christ, 232, 350; on Holy Thursday, 370; Good Friday, 378 
Advent — its history, 173-175 (see 102-105); its character, 176 

its development, 176-201; feast of hope, 177, 189, 192 

confession in Advent, 71; penance, 69; sermons, 52-63, 68-72, 176-201 

first Sunday, 59, 60-63 

second Sunday, 59, 60-63 

third Sunday, 59, 60-63 

fourth Sunday, 59, 60-63 

Preparation for, 60, 63, 68, 72, 176, 177 

resolutions for, 60, 68, 178, 188 

week of, 174 

Agostino da Montefeltre, P. 604 
Aim, 332; means of, 309; grace, 309 

fixing of, 65; thought in sermon, 65-72; of Bible 86 

Alleluia, 398, 399; Holy Saturday 

All Saints, 560-562, sermons on — Litany, 486 

All Souls, 562 

Almighty God, 82, 84 

Alpha and Omega, Christ, 144 

Altar, Sacrament of, 289, 368, 447 

Ambrose, St., 575, 576 

Amos, 124 

Amplification, 650 

Analysis, 776-778 

Anointing of Christ in Bethany, 348 
Antithesis, 34, 112 
Apocalypse and Genesis, 144 
Apologetics, in the sermon, 643, 700 

826 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



827 



Apologetics of the Resurrection, 435, 436, 642-645, 700-714 

Apostles as teachers, 4, 33; Acts of, 143 

Application, see resolutions in sermon 

Art of direction of souls, 30 

Ascension of Christ, 492-495; vigil, 490 

Ascetics and sermons, 591-598 

Ash Wednesday, 260-262, 263 -268 

Atonement 331, 294-300; see satisfaction, Passion Sunday, Holy Week 
Atzberger, 604 

Augustin, St., conversion, 59, 161, 183, 576 

Authority, 15-28, 39, 123, 231, 233, 554, 681, 707, 712, 769, 770 

Author of our resurrection, Christ, 435 

and dispenser of grace, 450, 445-463, 39i"397 

Autonomy of moral, 103, 104, 114, 714-718 



B 

Babel, tower of, 107 

Banner of Christ, of Satan, 595 

Banquet of Christ, 289-291 

Baptism, 161; on Holy Saturday, 391; of Christ, 161, 235, 394, 517, 520 

ceremonies of, 161, 162, 386; effect of, 161 

Baptismal grace, 161 

scrutiny, 280; day, 386-399; preparation, 386-399 

water, blessing of, 390 

Baptistery of the Lateran, 393 
Beatitudes, 160, 561, 719 
Berens, 604 

Beyond, 478, 492, 501, 553, 562 

Bible, the language of, 87, 88; art of narrative, 89; first source of sermons, 
93; Book for the preacher, 95; Word of God, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100-140, 
142, 631 

collection of marvelous characters, 149; teacher of popularity, 82-90; 

use of, 151-164; reading of, 152, 155-182, 631; aim of 94; knowledge 

of, 94; ignorance of, 94 

and natural science, 103; sense of, 155; its popularity, 151 

the soul of theology, 148 ; a reformer of our lives, 146, 149 

a deeper conception of, 145, 103-145 

reading, 152, 153 

and life, 53, 148, 149, 7°8 

commentaries, 153 

knowledge, 95, 96, 102-146 

on instruction and education, 793-806 

Birth of Christ, 210-220, 239; see Christmas 

second, 161 

Bossuet, 599, 600 
Boulogne de, 603 



828 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Bourdaloue, 600 
Bread multiplication, 537 
Bread of Life, 289, 300 
Breen, Dr., note, 635 
Breiteneircher, 603 

Bulwarks of pride, II Cor. 10, 4-232, 107 
Burial of old man, 161 
refusal of, 710 

C 

Caeci vident, 1 56 

Cana, marriage, 236, 243 

Candlemas, 57, 249 

Captain of Capharnaum, 236 

Catechesis, 758; of children, 784-786 

Catechetical, primal sermons, 330 

Catechetical truths, 54, 644, 690 

Catechism, 758, 792-793 

Catechismus Romanus, 54 

Catechist, 758, 763 

Catastrophies of world, 16, 106 

Ceremonial Law, no 

Ceremonies, explanation, 64, 181 

Chamberlain, Houston Stewart, 671 

Channel of revelation, 107 

Character, 149, 541, 542; formation of, 687 

sketches, biblical, 149 

Characteristics of Christ, 136 
Chastity, 59, 69, 279, 719-721 
Children, language, of, 771 

value of souls, 762 

Christmas, full, 213 

History, 201, 210, 211, 215, 217; liturgy, 210-220; themes for sermons, 

210-220, 239-249(57) 

cycle, 173 

Sunday, 224 

Octave, 220-226 

Epistles, 216, 239 

Vigil, 198, 199 

Mass, triple, 213-217 

prophecies, 221, 210-212 

Vespers, 212 

Matins, 210 

Pentcost, 230 

Christ, a child, 210-235, 239-243; Divinity of, 137, 138, 189, 216, 219, 231, 
238, 386-421, 420; Wise men, 228-235; at twelve, 235, 242; King of 
youth, 235; as man, 235; of family, 236, 243, 246; of the Church, 
236, 237; sacramental King, 236 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



829 



Christ, characteristics, 137, 151, 162; His baptism, 235 (161), 47, 517; His 
fast, 271; temptation, 271; first miracle, 235, 236; His conversation 
with the Samaritan woman, 310; His miracle and life, 130, 176-570; 
transfiguration, 278-281 

the suffering God-Man, 294-385; at Last Supper, 365; the Redeemer, 

in His bloody garment, 297, 356, 357-359; the Man of Sorrows, 357; 
satisfaction, 355, 294-300, 378; High Priest, 294, 355 

resurrection, 415-449 (386-399); reveals Himself, 418, 419, 419-423; 

taking leave, 475; the ascension, 492-495 

new fire, light, life, 387, 389, 390, 393 

our consolation, 479, 481; Good Shepherd, 469; Lawgiver, 287-294; 

example, 214; author of grace, 396; cornerstone, 387; auctor fidei, 389; 
a historical person, 137, 271, 670; motor fidei, 396; creator regulae 
fidei, 390; King of His Kingdom, 595; admonishing us to pray, 482 

review of His life, 137, 201, 507, 565 

the cause of our resurrection, 435 

sermon on, 554, 668, 674 

apologetics, 703, 707 

image, 138, 141; in exercises of St. Ignatius, 595 

homilies, 675 

the Judge, 356 

Chfistus crucifixus Dei sapientia et virtus, 381 

Church, teaching office, 16-19; origin, 142,425,452,557,501,682; her dogma, 
etc., 143, 423, 450, 501, 506; her storms, 236, 682; mustard seed, 
237; sovereign daughter of God, 271, 274, 389; in conflict, 272, 274; 
home of the Holy Ghost, 423-416, 501, 505, 509; Christ, her architect, 
139, 142, 554, 600; Holy Ghost, her perfector, 554; Acts of the Apostles, 
554; Why Roman Catholic? 554; Catholic? 615; Apostolic? 550; 
sanctifying, only, 554; indestructible, 555; her foundation, 555 

main theme, 681-685; genesis of, 682; essence, 683; laws and institu- 
tions, 684; the happiness of being a Catholic, 684 

Catholic, 781; year of the Church, 55-169 

dedication, 110-113, 193, 391, 520, 523, 543, 567 

Claims of God on man, 102, 130 

Clergy and politics, 658-661 

Cornerstone, Christ, 386 

Corpus Christi, 521, 522, 523, 526; sermons, 525, 520; see Holy Thursday, 
Low Sunday, Blessed Sacrament of the Altar 

procession, 522, 524, 525 

Colman, 603 

Communion, 287, 291, 320, 330, 331, 366, 368, 453-5^4, 5 2 3~5 2 6 (see Holy 

Eucharist, Low Sunday) 
picture of, 525, 526 

excuses, 525, 526; preparation, 366-368, 400, 525 (see contrition); 

effects, 448 
Compositum humanum, 36 
Concentrations, 651 



8 3 o 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Concepts of religion, 146, 605 
Concordances, 604 
Confederates, see oath, patriotism 
Conferences, 661, 662 

Confession, 311-324; see Advent, Lent, Eastertide, etc., sermon on 41-334; 
resolutions, 71 

Conflict with Satan, world, and self, 271-275; Christ's example, 272, 274 

Co-operation of God and man, 507 

Consciousness, ecclesiastical, 43 

Consecration, 90, 543, 779, 780 

Consolatio scripturarum, 160 

Consoler, Holy Ghost, 480 

Construction of a single sermon, 755 

Contents of sermons, 654 

Contrition, perfect, 316, 353, 365; in the deluge, 106, 320, 322; imperfect, 322; 

transition from to perfect, 323 
and life and Passion of Christ, 324, 325, 808; in Advent, 71, 187; in 

confession, 316, 317, 331 
Convents, 738 
Conversations, 652 

Conversion, 161 (Advent, Holy Week) 

and education, 33, 161, 183 (104-145) 

Chronology of the Bible, 198, 199, 670 
Cornu copiae, 81 
Costa, 604 

Councils, 450, 583, 587-59° 
Courtship, 262 

Creator and creature, 74, 75, 83, 84, 232, 234 

102-104, 231-234; creator and new creation, 144, 386-399 

Creation, account of, 102 
Cremation, 711 

Criticism and liturgy, 166, 171; and pragmatics, 145 

Cross of Christ our glory, 353; our salvation, 354; our tree of life, 600 

unveiling of, 382-385 

its power, 355~357; its fruits, 355-357 

doctrine of, 87, 381; veiling, on Passion Sunday, 299; roots of, 345-353 

Crucifixion of old man, 86, 161 
Cultor fidei, 270 

Culture without God, 107; with God, 119, 551-552 

pride and judgment, 107 

and religion, 103, 107, 119, 622, 704, 706 

Cycles, of sermons on Advent, 200; Christmas, 216; Epiphany, 235; Pre-Lent, 
255; Lent, 271-386; Easter, 386, 415, 450; Pentecost, 537, 554, 
535-538; on faith, 450, 451 ; on the Passion, 321 (Passion Sunday and 
Holy Week); on the resurrection, 422, 450, 451; Good Shepherd, 
473; on the Church, 554, 536, 681 ; on the Kingdom of Christ, 235-245; 
on the sacrament of the Altar, 288, 290, 365, 453, 523; on devotion to 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



831 



the Sacred Heart, 529; on the sacraments, 307, 308; on Christian 
virtues, 307, 715; on Holy Scripture, 108-146, 308-310; on the Easter 
sacraments, 310, 327; great cycles on Christ, 565-568 



Daniel, 127 

David, 117, 118, 119 

Day — which the Lord hath made — 407-414 
Death, 553 

Deathly enemies of the soul, 59 

Decalogue, 109, 112, 306, 307, 327, 331, 333, 715, 716, 717 
Decisions of the Holy See and sermons, 583-590 
Defects of the Saints, 597 
Delivery, 748 
Deluge, 105 

Deportation of Israel, 120, 122, — Judas, 126 
Deppe, 604 

De profundis, in Christmas Vespers, 212 
Despondency, 121 
Divisions of humanity, 106, 107 
Division of Israel, 120 

Deuteronomy, no, source of preaching, in, book of exercises, 115; prin- 
cipal themes of sermons, 117 
Diaspora, Jewish, 127 
Didon, 604 
Diessel, 604 
Direction of souls, 31 
Disposition, 641, 754 

Divinity of Christ, 130, 131, 189, 216, 219, 230, 238, 290, 293, 298, 386-415, 

416-421, (see Christ and Jesus) 
Dogma, in sermons, 53, 610-699 
Dupanloup, 603 
Duty, fidelity to, 113, 234 

neglect of, 70, 71, 197, 217 

sentiments of, 69, 217, 218; 

small duties, daily, 73 

E 

Eagle of divine love, no, 743 
Earth and heaven, 144 

Easter, history of the feast, 385-399, 407-415, 421, 421-436 

mystery, 435 

faith, 401-404, 431 

candle, 404-406, 400, 401 

lamb, 379 

song, 417 

Monday, 450, 452, 456 



8 3 2 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Easter night, 386, 399 

Octave, 397-399, 448, 45i 

liturgy, 448-45 1 

rest, 490 

sacraments, 161, 310-334 

Sundays, I, 45^463; H, 463-475; HI, 475~4795 IV, 479~48i; V, 

481-484 

dogma, 437-439 

petition, 415 

manifestation of Christ, 423-432, 439-450 

demand of Christ, faith, 431-436 

joy, 417, 490 (406, 407) 

peace, 452 

— — idea, A., from the liturgy of Holy Saturday: new fire, 400, 401; new 
light, truth of Christ, 401-404, 408, 409. B., from the liturgy of 
Easter: history, 410-415; "The day which the Lord hath made," 
415-420; the act of Christ, 415, 416, 421-436; Canticle of Easter, 
416; Easter cry, 416, 434, 436; Easter song, 417, 418, 423; Expurgate 
vetus fermentum, 418; ut sitis nova conspersio, 419; in azymis 
veritatis, 419; sinceritatis, 506; Easterday of Christ; 420-422, 427, 
428; series of Easter apparitions, 420-428; mystery, 438, 439, 440; 
fruits, 400-410, 310, 386, 439. C, liturgy of Easter, Octave, 448-455; 
Easter Monday, 450, 455. D., 457~49 2 > 465-469 

Eastertide, 456-490; sermons, 399-407; liturgy, 507-510, 566, 567 

Eberhard, Bishop, 605 

Ecclesiastes, 119, 120 

Ecclesiastical year, 55, 169, 171, 173, 570 

Fathers and sermons, 570-575 

Education of world, 102, 109-143; Israel's, 109 
religious, in schools, 784-813 

Effeminacy, 69 

Ehler, Bishop, 603 

Ehrhard, 706-714 

Either, or, 11 3-1 14 

Elaboration of the sermon, 755; Elias, vision on Horeb, 121 

Eloquence, 28, 51, 91 

Ember days, 274-278, 544 

Emotion, 36 

Emotional activity, 37 

Emmanuel, idea of in Paradise, 523, 524 

Emmaus disciples, 86, 163, 430, 450-463 

Encyclicals and sermons, 53 

Ends of Gospels, 16 

Enlightenment, 232 

Envy, 579 (104) 

Epiphany, 225, 228, 229, 235; sermons, 228-243, 250 
First Sunday, 235, 238 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



833 



Epiphany, Second Sunday, 235, 238 

Third Sunday, 236, 238, 245 

Fourth Sunday, 236, 729-736, 238 

Fifth Sunday, 237 

Sixth Sunday, 237 

Erring stars, stray stars, human, 105 (see Letter of Jude) 
Eternity, 143, 178, 187, 475, 47 6 
Eusebius, St., Statio ad, 292-294 
Evil, 489, 506 
Exaggerations, 77 

Examination of conscience, in Advent, 71; for confession, 188, 279, 310, 316, 

331, 333; in Lent, 331; on The Commandments, 333, 507, 807 
Exclusiveness of revelation, 107 
Exegesis, homiletic, 154, 158 

Exercises of St. Ignatius, 593~598; thoughts of, 103, 112, 114, 115, 593, 599 
Exodus of Christ, from tabernacle on Holy Thursday, 370 
Exorcism of Satan, 280-282 

Extinguishing of candles in tenebrae of Holy Week, 358 

F 

Facts of religion, 97 

Faith, definition of Holy Scripture, 69, 231; of the Church, 231, 401, 450, 
584; What is faith? 231, 432, 462, 434, 584, 778; Who moves to faith? 
231, 2 3 2 , 434, 432, 45°; Who regulates? 15, 17, 18, 392, 450; rule of? 
16, 17, 403, 450; its necessity, 231, 431, 451, 584; profession, 451; its 
origin, 451; how live by faith? 401-410, 463; faith and the Holy 
Ghost, 504, 505, 647; the beginning, finishing thought of the ecclesiasti- 
cal year, 544; faith defined by the Vatican council, essence of faith, 584, 
586; by Trent, 586-588; cycles, 462 

and good fortune, 581; mysteries of Easter, 436-439; spirit of, 43; 

victory, 43, 432; rule of faith, 43, 242; catechetical explanation, 
778, 2, 3, 4, 5, 403, 432, 448, 449, 463 

school of Christ, 139, 417, 421, 431, 450 

Family, 243-250; dignity of, 247-250; feast of, 243-249; spirit of, 243-246, 

250; history of, 102, 247; foundation, 243, 244 
Fast days, 251-255; fast, emberdays, 251-255 
Fathers, study of, 578, 579; Fathers at crib, 156 
Fear of God, 74, 103, 120, 121, 178, 647 

of the Judge, 185 

Feeling, 36 

Feet washing, 365-370 
Felix IV, Pope, 283 
Felix, Pere, 603 
Fenelon, 602 

Ferial offices in Lent, 262 
Fidelity to God, 113 



834 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Fire of Christ, 400 

First confession, instruction, 806-809 (see confession, 311-334) 

First communion addresses, 453-463; instruction, 292, 809-812 (Holy Thurs- 
day, Holy Saturday, and Low Sunday) 

Fish catching, first, 532, 533, 537; second, 533; image of the Sacred Heart, 
53i, 532 

Foerster, 602 

Form of Sacred eloquence, 748 

Forms, religious, 181 

Foundation of religion, 593, 594 

Fruits of Easter, 310, 387, 400-401, 439, 440 

Fuessl, 604 

Fulness of time, new fire, light and life, 406 

Fundamental idea of religion, 664; principles, 281; negligence, 68, 69, 104, 

191, 192 
Funeral orations, 747 

G 

Gathering, 176 
Genealogy of David, 134 
of Christ, 134 

Genesis, 102-109; and apocalypse, 144, 145 
George, St., Statio in velabro, 268 

God, nature, 74, 76, 103; in Isaias, 83; in Psalms, 83; popularization, 84, 

517, 593, 665; power, 84, 85; doctrine, 305, 306, 517, 665; love of, 

112, 113; adoration, 180; greatness, 84, 103 
Good Friday, history, 372-378; liturgy, 378-385; prostratio, 378; Lesson, 

379; Passion, 379, 382, 383, 386; Missa praesanctificatorum, 211; 

burial, 384, 645, 295, 345, 355; sermons on, 378-385 ( 2 54, 294, 318, 

321,355); resolutions, 383 
Shepherd, 453, 463-468 

Grace for all men, 195, 107; idea of, 147; of the Redeemer, 210, 218, 399, 404, 
503, 504; sanctifying, 88, 161, 274, 282, 283, 772, (404-410); and 
Holy Ghost, 505; foundation in Kingdom of Christ, 538, 539-541; 
grace and law, 539, 541 (see contrition) 

Grace, life of, 161, 282, 283, 404-410, 540, 685-687; selection free, 107 

Graser, 603 

Gregory the Great, St., 577 
Gospel, an insight into, 52, 137, 143 

and theological science, 52; a paradise, 142 

closing of, 17 

H 

Ham, 106; Hamites, 106 
Hansjacob, 604 

Happiness in heaven, 139 (see heaven) 
Hamack, 598, 671 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



835 



Heart, human, 36, 37, 50, 76, 529 

of Jesus, 530, 531, 532, 535 (235, 243, 244, 245, 250), 688; Suffering, 345, 

349; feast, its history, 526, 527; object, 528, 529, 530, 531; liturgy, 
528; sermons, 345-353, 305"375> 526-532, 534 

Hebrew letter, c. 10: 5-7, 57, 58; c. 9: 234, 295-298 

Hecher, 604; Heffner, 604 

Heli, 520; Herbart-Ziller, 783 

Hexaemeron, 104 

High Priest Christ, 294, 300, 302 

schools, 814 

History of Easter, 421-424 

and liturgy, 166, 171 

Historical description of Bible, 115 

Holy Ghost, 509, 498-507, 5", 5^3 (see Spirit) 

Thursday, 361, 365, 370, 372, 375 

Saturday, 385, 387-399; new fire, 487; light, 401-404; life, 404; liturgy, 

399-409 
Week, 334-380 

Ghost, 502, 503, 504, 505, 507, 511, 567; grace, 506; representative, 531; 

sin, 506; physician, 507; His judgment, 480-482; 554 
Home of Holy Ghost, 501, 502, 503, 504 
Homesickness for Christ, 68, 523 

Homiletics, 25, 27; Homily, 25, 152, 722-736 (see Sundays and feasts) 
Hope, 68, 187, 189, 192, 193, 648; feast of, 189-194 
House of Simon, type of the Church, 506, 510 
Humaneness of God, 582 (see Christmas, 216-218) 
Human dignity, 581 

heart, 36, 37, 50, 76, 526 

knowledge, 65, 78 

soul, 562, 565 (161, 162, 399-410) 

classes, 596 

Humility, 46, 70, 83, 107, 193, 195, 366, 538, 596; of Christ, 309, 366, 369 
Hunolt, 602 
Hurter, 602 

I 

Ignorantia Christi, 99, 140 
Illustrations, means of, 606 

Imitatio Christiana, 387; of Christ suffering, 351-353 
Imperative of God, 104 
Improperia, 317, 382 
Impurity, 59, 63, 105, 106, 719 
In azymis sinceritatis, 418 

Incarnation, 582 (see Advent and Christmas), 583, (216-239) 

Incense, offering of Magi, 226 

Indifferentism, 103, 400 

Industry and God, 74, 76, 103, 104 

Infallibility of Pope, 19; of Church, 20, 75, 554, 555 



8 3 6 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Inheritance, 104, 105 
Innocent children, 223 
Intelligence, 232 
Intemperance, 59 

Intention, good, 57, 58, 74, 112, 176, 180, 82, 87 
Intercession, for all classes on Good Friday, 381, 382 
Interest in behalf of Christ, 670-673 
Interior life, 132, 260, 230, 232, 537, 543, 544, 593-598 
Introduction of sermon, 752 

Isaias, c. 4: 230; c. 7: 101, 523; c. 9: 122, 210, 230; c. 10, 11: 85, 86; c. 11: 
85, 86, 190; c. 14: 4-21, 86; c. 24: 87-90, 122, 125; c. 40: 10; idea of 
God, 83, 84; c. 40: 22-24, 17 (God and the world), 86, 210; c. 42: 
528; c. 51: 230; c. 52: 210; c. 53: 357-359 

Israel and the pagan world, no, 133, 136; and the nations, 134, 109, 116, 119, 
120, 125, 126, 128 

and the history of the world, 125, 135-146 



j 

Jacob, 280; well, 124, 310 

Jesus in the Old Testament, 130, 177-201; as child, 210-221, 228, 245; Savior 
and Redeemer, 137, 190, 219; Infinite love, 137; King, 217, 228-235; 
Physician, 281, 353, 509; miraculous work, 542; God, 138, 228, 
298, 399, 417, 421, 668, 731; His character, 138; His school of faith, 
139,416-421,432,441; Apologetic, 138, 669, 703; as Man, 138, 176- 
568; His Passion, 295-300; School of life, 87, 139, 345, 378; Suffering 
High Priests, 378, 507; Satisfaction, 297, 298; Redeemer, 189, 193, 
210, 216, 219, 230, 294, 302, 344, 385, 399; Judge, 176, 177, 201; our 
model in conflict, 507-668 (see Christ) 

Job, c. 39: 27, 37, 86 

John, 223; c. 6: 289-291 

Chrysostom, 578-580 

the Baptist, 68-73, i5i> I 9 I , I 94, 195 

and Paul, Station in Monte Coelio, 268 

Joseph at crib, 159; Joseph of Egypt, 287 

Joy, 69, 70, 193, 196 

Judgment, 61, 62, 177, 185 

Judicial law, no, in 

Justice, 279, 721 

K 

Keppler, 604 
Kettler, Bishop, 603 

Kingdom of God, 231; of Christ, 228, 230, 142 
Israel, 123 

school of, 139, 417, 422, 432, 450, 664, 681 

Klasser, Dr., 604 
Knowledge of Christ, 141 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



837 



Knowledge of the world, 78, 102 
Kohorst, 604 
Kolb, 604 
Kolberg, 604 

L 

Laborers at the crib, 156 

in the vineyard, 257; Parable of, 620 

Labor questions, 719, 723 (243, 245) 
Lacordaire, 603 
Lamentations of Jeremias, 358 

Language, 77-93, 748; sentiments of, 89; of Bible, 85 

Last day, 143, 161, 177 

Sunday of ecclesiastical year, 568-570 

Supper, 308-310, 364-372; address, 310; great banquet, 525, 537 

Lateran, 386, 389 
Lavabo, 367 

Law, fidelity to, 113, 279, 327-331; and grace, 279, 539-541; eternal, 102, 103; 

positive (see Decalogue), 211; obedience to, 507; Christian, 327-334; 

of Christ, 278-280; Sunday law, 451-463 
Laxity, 105, 400 
Lazarus, 292, 349, 350 

Lent, Sundays of, 271-334, 302-327, 249-257 

first Sunday, 271-278, 327-330, 331, 332 

second Sunday, 63, 278-283, 330, 331, 333, 325 

third Sunday, 280-282, 31 1-3 16, 330, 332, 333 

fourth Sunday, 287-291, 331, 333, 367-369, 465-476 

fifth Sunday (Passion Sunday), 294-295, 523-526; Passion Week, 300; 

Palm Sunday, 338-344 
Legatio pro Christo, 39 
Lehmann, 604 
Leo the Great, 577 
Leo XIII, encyclicals, 589 
Lesser sins, 364 
Levate capita vestra, 178 
Liberty, 288, 289 

Liberation through Christ, 288, 289 
Lierheimer, P. 667, 603 

Life amelioration, 161, 332, 310-317, 327-334; bread of, 289-291; renovation 
of, 112-115; Holy Saturday, 399-407 

of Christ, 55, 137, 142, 141, i73> 565"5 68 

Light of Christ, 401 
Literal sense, 157 

Liturgy and Holy Scripture, 165; and life of Christ, 55, 64, 71; homiletics, 
165; dogma, 166, 167, 172; ascetic, 57-65; formularies, 60-64 (see 
ecclesiastical year, 589) 

Living waters of grace, 230, 282, 283 

Longing after Redeemer, 176 



8 3 8 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Look backwards, 186, 187, 200-202, 507-511; to Life of Christ, 490, 493, 402, 
403. 

Looking up to God, 60, 62, 179, 180; into future, 61, 179, 185, 187 
Lost sons of the world, 106 

Love, 48, 259, 49; pastoral, 121, 537, no, 216, 239, 316, 382, 506, 509, 511, 

538, 568, 597, 648, 542, 543 (see principal precept) 
of country, 554 (see Patriotism) 

of God, 114; its spirit, 45, 112; for us, 111-115, 210, 217, 222, 294, 322, 

345, 365, 378, 45o 

of neighbor, 217, 270, 241, 245, 368, 526, 543, 544 

want of, 59, 366 

Loveliness of Infant Jesus, 216, 240, 582 



M 

Maccarthy, 603 
Macchabees, 136 
Magi, 230 
Malachias, 135 
Man, 103, 104 

Manifestations of sacred eloquence, 32 

Marian feasts, 564; sermons on, 676-686 (see Mary) 

Marriage, mixed, 711, 243, 245 

Mary, in pages of Bible, 101, 678-684; in Holy Scripture, 156, 676; and grace, 
556; word of Godj 556, 557; annunciation, 678; visitation, 678; 
presentation, 57, 58; Magnificat, 679; at crib, 156; quiet life of, 
680; public life, 680; death of Jesus, 681; sorrows of 320-303; and the 
Risen Saviour, 681; in the Church, 682-684; in mysteries of the rosary, 
558-560, 684; dignity of, 684; virtues of, 685; title of, 685; assump- 
^ tion of, 556 

sister of Lazarus, 349 

Massillon, 602 

Mass, parts and connections, 60, 567; in life of Christian, 63, 787, 812; formu- 
laries of and sermons on, 55, 60, 53; institution, 787, 812 
Matrimony, 243, 244, 247 
Matutinum tenebrarum, 332 
May sermons, 678-686 
Means of sacred eloquence, 604 
Meditation, 45; on Passion, 351-356 
Memorize, 83 

Messiah (see Saviour, Christ, Jesus), image of in Paradise, 104; in Prophets, 

T 3 2 > 137, 523; hope for, 104-108, 112, 132, 137, 176, 189 
Methods, catechetic, 770, 776, 793, 798 
Mildness, 543 (see love) 
Missa praesanctificatorum, 383 

Money, in the light of the Gospel, 537, 538; offered by the Magi, 231 
Monism, 114 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



839 



Monsabre, 604 

Moral, 715-718; law, no, 306, 514; sermons, 72-77, 161 
Morality, real, 261, 262, 270, 598, 537, 538, 541, 543, 544 
Morning offering of Jesus and Mary, 57 

Mortal sin, 59, 60-62, 161, 163, 179, 183, 185, 685 (see Contrition, Baptism, 

confession, and sin) 
Moses, 114, 146, in, 113; Books of, 102-115 

of Michelangelo, 114 

Mother of God, picture of, first, 104 
Munich method, 783, 781 
Myrrh, sacrifice of, 234 

N 

Name of Mary, 678 

of Easter, 415 

Narration, art of in Gospels, 87 
Naturalness, 38 
Natural science and Bible, 103 
Nature and revelation, 103 

and supernatural, 102, 120 

Nazarene, 223 

Needs of the times, 25, 26, 114, 105, 115, 120, 134, 137, 191 

people, 65, 137-142, 687-689 

Neumayer, 602 

New fire, light, and life, 400, 401, 404-408 
New Year, 224 

Night, the great in the Lateran, 386-399 
Niobe and Mary, 301 
No one can serve two masters, 541 
Noe, 105, 106 

0 

Oath, 160, 741 
Obedience, 104 

Objectivity of Holy Scripture, no 

Office of teaching, 13-17, 20, 21, 25, 39, 462, of Christ and the church 
Ohler, 604 

Omnia traham ad me ipsum, 156 
Opposition, 621 
Original sin, 104 

P 

Pagan, world in Israel, 107, 133 
Palm Sunday, 338-341 

Papacy, 142, 429, 45°> 474, 5 o6 > 5°9> 53 2 > 545. 5^3? 5§7 
Papal throne, 141 
Parables, 610-622 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Passion, 87-88, promises of, 259, 260, 294-300; sermons on, 321-327; and 
contrition, 318-325, 334-386; sentiments, 86-88, 351-353; school of 
Christ, 139, 417, 422, 432, 450; hymn, 298-300; Sunday themes for, 
294-302, 318-325, 327-333; Holy Week, 300; Passion-tide, 294 

Patiss, 604 

Patriotism, 544-553 

Patriarchal pictures, 108 

Paul, sketch, 74, 150, 151 

Peculiarity of saints, of men, 597 

Paintings, ethics, 75 

Peace eternal, 465 

Pedagogue of love, 1 1 1 

Pedagogics, biblical, 99, 102, 109 

Penance, 72, 311-320, 331-334, examination of conscience, 316, 317, 331, 
333; contrition, 317, 319, 331, 332, 333, 352, 366 (see Holy Saturday) 

175, 197, 310, 70, 71; grace of, 161 (see confession and contrition) 

(Advent and Lent) 

Pentateuch, 495, 496 

Pentecost, 495-496 

feast, 496, 497, 498, 4995 petition, 504; star, 504; life, 502, 503, 504; 

no vena, 494; octave, 504-508; cry of, 503; deed, 503; Sundays after 
5i°-535 

first Sunday, 514-520, 535 

second Sunday, 525; third, 537; fourth, 532, 533, 537 

fifth to twelfth, 537-543 

twelfth to twenty-fourth, 539-556, 730 

last Sunday, 568-570 

Pentecostal time, 510-514 

People, knowledge of, 76; school, religious instruction, 784-813 
Perfect contrition (see contrition) 
Perger, 604 
Pericopes, 153, 176 
Peroration, 754 

Person of Christ and doctrine, 161 
Persons at crib, 155 
Pessimism, 120, 121 
Peter, 150 

Physician, Christ Jesus, 283, 539, 688, 506 
Pictures, 608; and culture, 622-629 
Pie, Cardinal, 603 
Pilgrimage on earth, 476 
Plan of the world, 102-146 
Politics and clergy, 658-661 

without God, 107 

Poor in spirit, 107 
Popularity, 78, 79, 91 
Praeconium Paschale, 389, 403 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Pragmatics of Bible, 102-146, 111-115 

Prayer, 43, 180; spirit of, 43; first of the ecclesiastical year, 60, 179, 180; for 
right direction, 180; for temporal things, 181, 489; essence and forms, 
180; Rogation Sunday, 481-490; natural, 180; supernatural, 180, 
181, 481; command of, 482; object, 60, 61, 181; attributes of, 483; 
infallibility, 484; in spirit and in truth, 182; for one thing neces- 
sary, 60, 61, 182; frequency and regularity, 482; intercessory, 487, 
488, 489; to God, 488, 490, 491; contemplative, 45 (see meditation), 
literature on, 483, 484; prayer of the Church, 490; Litaniae majores, 
484-486; minores, 486; Omnium Sanctorum, 486-490 

of children, 786 

Preacher, Catholic, 21; his life, 42; popular, 80 
person of, 41 

Preaching, literature, 598-603; parts, 751; themes, 752; resolutions, 73, 76 
different kind (see sermons), laws of, 40 

Precept-principal in Deuteronomy, 112; in New Testament, 216-219, 2 59> 
261, 270, 349, 351, 352, 365, 366, 506, 514, 538, 544; constant thought 
of, 112 

Presence of Christ, 193, 523 
Pre-Lent, 255-260, 612 
Pride, 27 

Priest, vocation, 520; service, 116; ideal, 520; of Israel, 136; ordination, 35; 

week of, 520, 523; first mass, 13-27 
Primeval Church, 143 
Program of redemption, 104, 

Progress and religion, 74, 76, 103, 104, 545, 623, 626 
Prope est Dominus, 193 

Prophets, real, 131; false, 364; preachers and saviors of their times, 473, 506, 

520, 523, 568 (294-316) 
Prophets, teachers of future, 121, 130 

Prophecies of Holy Saturday, 390, 391, 401-403; concerning Christ, 84, 85, 

131, 136, 190, 192, 210-212; light of the world, 128, 210 
Prostratio on Good Friday, 377 
Proto-Evangelium, 104 
Providence, 102-146, 537, 547 
Prudence of Christians, 537 
Psalms, essence, 83, 86, 117 
Public schools (see religious education) 
Pulpit, Catholic, 39 

Q 

Quinquagesima, 259 

R 

Radix Iesse, 84, 85, 100 
Ransom of Christ, 297, 298 
Ravignan, 603 



842 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Redeemer, 219 (see Saviour and Jesus), of world, 123, 125, 190, 210, 229 
Redemption, 239; its necessity, 68, 107, no, 122, 124, 130; in Deluge, 105, 106 

encyclical of Leo XIII, 219 

Regeneration, 161 
Relapse, 281 

Religion, 96, 102-146; in narrow sense, 57, 232; in wide sense, 96, 102-146; 
a fact, 97-124 (see church) 

and culture, 54, 628, 635, 642, 706 

Repetitions, 75 

Representatives, of Christ 13-27, 38-40, 505 
Rest of Israel, portion, 124 

Resolutions, in Advent, 59, 71; in Lent, 272-275, 332, 352, 366, 318, 325 
Resurrection of Christ, 292, 293, 417, 418, 419, 422-437; its effect, 438, 439, 
465 (see Easter and Easter thoughts) 

of the body, 420, 385, 563; our own, 419; history of, 422-431, 499, 500 

Revelation, and nature, 102-146 

Risen Christ, full of truth and grace, the source of faith, 401, 461, 464, 461- 

492; picture of, 465-469, 421-431 
Rogation Sunday, 481-490 (180-183); week, 481-490 
Roh, P., 603 
Roman Letters, 103, 105 
Rosary, 558-560; feast, 558-560 
Rost, L., 604 
Rothmanner, P. 0., 604 
Ruin of humanity, 105 

S 

Sabina station on Ash Wednesday, 263 

Sacraments, reception, 71, 184, 278, 287, 310, 320, 330, 331-333 

Sacrifice of Christ, 295-300 

Saints, 561, 562, 563, 597"746; feast of, 564, 737 

Salvation, of spirits, Deluge, 106 

Samaritan, Good, 539, 540, 620; woman, 121, 124, 310 
Samuel, 115 

Sanctity of God, 696-699 
Satan, 280-287, 281, 161 
Saul, 115 

Saviour, 190; promised, 68, 69, 84, 190, 191-193 (see Christ) 

Scandalized, si oculus tuus te, 161 

Scherer, 604; Schneider, 604; Schork, 604 

School of Christ, 102 (see Passion); Schools secondary, 813-814 

Schuster, 604; Schmitz, 604 

Science of the crucified, 381, 376-385; a work of God, 103 

Scripture, meditation, 45, 152; proof, 148; Sacred (see Bible) 

Segneri, 602 

Self -contempt, 441 

Self-denial, 59, 70, 71, 86, 258 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



843 



Self-examination, 59, 61, 68, 179 

Self-justification, 282 

Selection of subjects, 51, 654 

Sensus accommodatus of the Bible, 157, 169 

Sentiments of Christ, 346-349 

Septuagesima, 257, 258, 620; Sexagesima, 258 

Series of apparitions on Easter, 429 

Sermons, different kinds, 691; dogmatic, 692-700; apologetic, 700-714; 

moral, 714-725; homily, 726-736 (92-165, 155-165); on Mary, 676; 

on Saints 737, 212; occasional, 740-748 
in connection with Sundays and feastdays (see Sundays), 304-307; on 

Symbol, 305, 306; on the Church, 453-455, 554, 681; on faith, 453-455 
on the Mount, 140, 142, 160, 715-718, 723 (593-598); themes, 752; on 

sacraments, 310-321 (see confessions and communion), on Passion, 

321-327 (see days of Holy Week) 
Servant of God, 357-359 

Service, of two masters impossible, 541 ; worship, 39, 40, 464, 545, 567 

Sheep, lost, 537 (463-475* 537) 

Shepherd, Good, 469-475 

Shepherds at crib, 156 

Ship of the Church, 502, 504 

Silo, 520 

Silvester, 224 

Silvia Peregrina, 362 

Simon's house, 506, 509 

Sin, venial, 367; and communion, 367, 368; conscious of, 68, no, 191; fall, 
104; need of Redeemer, 85; forgiveness, 544, 311-313 (see confession 
and contrition); mortal (see); offense against God, 239-241, 506, 594, 
686, 788, 719; (see contrition, confession, Lenten sermons) 

Sinai, 1 09-1 n 

Sketches, plans (see Sundays and feasts), historical, 629 
Slave, classes in light of divine providence, 106 
Sorrow, 582 (see suffering, cross) 

Soul, peace, 120; leading to Christ, 28-31; direction, 28, 142, 593-598; sal- 
vation, 29-31, 48-51, 95 
Speech, 77-92, 748; of Bible, 85; sentiments of, 89 
State, essence, origin, relation to Church, 545-553 
Stations of life, sermon, 156, 221 

Roman, in Lent, 262-271, 361, 386 

Stephen, 222 

Stewards, unjust, 537, 538 
Storm at sea, 236, 728-735 

calming of, 729-736 

Storms and needy periods of Israel, 125 
Stronger in world, 281, 280-282 

Suffering, its meaning, 87, 88, 300, 302, 351-354; of Christ (see Passion) 
Sunday peace, 465 



8 4 4 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



Sunday sanctification, 183, 188, 543; duty, 468, 543; sermon, 39, 40, 183 
school, 816 

Supernatural, 88, 104, 161, 400, 407; and nature, 102, 120 
Symbolum, 305, 306 
Synthesis, 780-782 

T 

Tappehorn, 604 

Teacher, 161; teaching office, 13-17, 20, 21, 25, 39 

Temptation of Christ, 272; temptations, 272-275, 356-327 (272-274, 329, 330) 
Temperance, 196; Ten Commandments, 307, 308, 331, 336; law, 109, 112, 

306, 307, 313, 331, 333 
Texts, 751 

Theology and sermons, 590-592 

Time fulness, 137, 176, 198; Thomas a Becket, St., 224 
Tolerance, real, 124, 706 
Transfiguration, 63, 278 
Transitions, 754 

Triangle, in Holy Week, 359, 401 

Trinity, doctrine, 501; deeds, 517; baptism and, 517; sermons, 501, 517-520; 

what Christ taught, 520 
Trinity Sunday, 514-520 

True religion, 310; truth, 226, 232; love of truth, 195 
Truths primeval, 664 
Tschupik, 602 
Types, 108 

U 

Universality of the Church, 17, 142, 427, 501, 554; of relations, 107 
Ut sitis nova conspersio, 419 

V 

Vatican council, 53 

Verbal concordance, 147; Vesperal Image of Mary, 301 

Victory in confession, 508; of Christ, 416; procession with cross, 342-344; 

with palms, 340-342 
View of world, 111; of Bible, 113; in Deuteronomy, 113 
Vineyard of God, 257, 507 
Vocation, fidelity, 183 (59, 61); of priest, 520 



W 

Want of will, 104, 191 

Water, living, 283-284; some of sacraments, 282-287 
Weapons of Christ, 272-274 
Wermelskirchen, 603, 604 
While, a little, 475, 477, 478 
Whim, 68, 69 



ALPHABETICAL INDEX 



845 



Will, effects of, 35, 38, 645-654 
Willmers, 604 

Wisemen, at crib, 156, 229, 235 

Word of God, 13-17, 31, 38, 95, 163, 231, 401, 404, 416-420; 450, its power, 

50-60; seed, 258; its fate, 258 
Work of God, of Christ, 509 
Works of darkness, 59 
World's catastrophies, 106 

Worship, divine, 235, 242, 243, 452; (see faith and adoration) 



Zeal for souls, 45 
Zollner, 694 



Z 



SEP 12 1912 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Oct. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 

l-71A\ 770-91 11 



